Passive Surveillance
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Passive surveillance is the use of local healthcare services to collect data on disease incidence or adverse effects of medicines. It relies on staff and services, who are part of a reporting network, collecting data and generating reports. There is no active search for cases.
For example, passive surveillance is the most common method used to monitor the incidence of vaccine-preventable diseases so that national and international bodies can identify possible outbreaks and organise vaccine provisions.
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