InVS, the French Institute for Public Health Surveillance - Institut de veille sanitaire – celebrates its tenth anniversary in 2008 and is organising the 10th Health surveillance seminar in Paris.

This seminar aims to facilitate exchanges between various stakeholders and partners of public health surveillance (public health professionals, health care workers, researchers, decision-makers, citizens etc.), in order to highlight the impact of their collaboration.

The Health surveillance seminar will include plenary and parallel sessions, and posters.

Call for abstratcs

The main topics addressed this year are listed below:

• Surveillance of waterborne diseases
  Microbial contamination, accidental or deliberate chemical pollution, and weather-related risks have led the World Health Organization (WHO) to stress the need for epidemiological surveillance. This session will be dedicated to health surveillance (specific or syndromic) of waterborne diseases in France, in Europe, or worldwide.
• Preparedness for emerging threats
  Recent experience has shown that, besides the monitoring of identified risks, surveillance systems should be able to detect and anticipate the occurrence of new health threats. New risks are regularly identified and are often controversial regarding heath effects and early exposures (wireless technology, nanotechnologies, trans-generational effects, etc). Preparedness for those emerging threats facilitates the design of health surveillance systems needed in the future.
• Poor socioeconomic conditions
  A round table session will be organised to discuss this topic. Any abstract is welcomed.
• Monitoring and surveillance: modelling as a tool for decision makers in the field of public health
  The use of mathematical modelling to understand and forecast the dissemination of human and animal infectious diseases has dramatically increased in recent years. Through the reproduction of a theoretical infection and its dissemination, it enables assessment the main transmission parameters, prediction of the impact of control strategies, integration of the role of economic and medical characteristics of the disease and identification of prior information needed to improve the ongoing analysis of a situation. Modelling thus helps to assess medium and long-term prevention policies for epidemic threats, especially pandemic influenza. The objective of this session is to illustrate the impact of this approach in public health decision-making and the areas of application.
• Perception of risks and risk prevention
  This session is based upon studies of threat and risk perception and of their social determinants. Links between awareness and prevention practices in relation to behavioural change will be addressed.
• Surveillance and methods
  Surveillance, alert, and monitoring are part of public health surveillance. Various methods are used in term of organisation (surveillance systems, alert networks, sentinel animals), of statistics and mathematical methods (modelling), of geography (geographical information systems), of anthropology (social sciences, economics), of biology (use of biomarkers), and of metrology (indicators, measures). This session is dedicated to the principles and techniques related to these methods.

In the context of the French presidency of the EU, all abstracts providing a European overview or highlighting experiences from one or more Member States on the above mentioned topics are welcomed.

This list of topics is not comprehensive, and others may be added, further to the review of proposed abstracts.

‘Late breaker session’
This session will address public health alerts that occurred in 2008, and for which investigation results will not be available by 23 May 2008 (deadline for general submission of abstracts).
The call for abstracts for the ‘late breaker session’ will be open from 15 June 2008.

Instructions for authors

Deadline for submission of abstracts: 23 May 2008
Late abstracts will not be considered

Participants wishing to present a communication are invited to submit an abstract to the scientific committee by 23 May 2008 at the latest, by email to appelcomJVS2008@invs.sante.fr.

Your abstract should conform to following instructions:

• Title:
  - Title should be short and the type of study should be specified;
  - Length should not exceed 110 characters, including spaces.
• Authors:
  - Full name of authors, and their affiliation should be provided;
  - Contact details of corresponding author (phone number, email address, etc.) should be provided.
• Abstracts:
  - Length should not exceed 3,430 characters, including spaces. Abstracts longer than 3,430 characters will not be accepted;
  - When possible, the IMRaD format (Introduction, Method, Results and Discussion) should be used;
  - Abstract should not include any graphics, tables, or figures, nor bibliographical references;
  - Only common abbreviations should be used (e.g. yard = yd, ounce = oz, electrocardiogram = ECG);
  - Other terms should be defined on first use and abbreviated subsequently;
  - Results should be provided, even if provisional.

Authors should specify if they prefer their communication to be presented under a precise topic or in a free session, as well as their preference for oral presentation or poster.

Authors will receive:

• An acknowledgement of receipt of their abstract;
• The decision of the ‘Journées de veille sanitaire’ scientific committee in July 2008.

Abstract selection

All abstracts will be peer-reviewed by two reviewers who will assess the relevance of the topic, the scientific quality (project methodology, scientific evidence) and text legibility.

The corresponding author will be notified of the decision by the scientific committee regarding his abstract, and of the format of the presentation (oral communication or poster).

Oral presentations will consist of a 10 minute presentation followed by 5 minutes of discussion.

Posters will be displayed over the two days. Opportunity for discussion with the authors will be offered during the breaks.

All accepted abstracts (oral presentations or posters) will be published in the abstract book handed out to all participants at the registration desk.

Scientific committee:

Delphine Antoine ; Judith Benrekassa ; Julien Brière ; Christine Chan-Chee ; Amandine Cochet ; Céline Delysse ; Ludivine de Block ; Michel Depinoy ; Eloi Diene ; Daniel Eilstein ; Claire Fuhrman ; Anne Gallay ; Marc Gastellu-Etchegorry ; Céline Lagrée ; Sabine Puiseux ; Isabelle Tréma