Respiratory/Fever Dashboard

Overview

Respiratory virus season typically begins in Autumn and ends in Spring. During this time, viruses such as Influenza, RSV, and COVID-19 are highly prevalent. The Nassau County Department of Health’s Office of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Planning has created a dashboard to identify trends in emergency department visits for respiratory and fever syndromes in Nassau County. This dashboard will be routinely updated.

Click here for instructions on navigating the desktop view of the dashboard.

Click here for instructions on navigating the mobile view of the dashboard.

Technical Notes

This dashboard was created with data from the New York State Electronic Syndromic Surveillance System. This data includes Nassau County residents and non-residents who visited any of the 12 Nassau County Emergency Departments (ED) with either Fever syndrome or Respiratory syndrome as their chief complaint. As of 01/01/2024, the definition for respiratory syndrome has been expanded. The full syndrome definitions can be found below.

Data Metrics

Rate: The rates reflected in the dashboard refer to the frequency of ED visits, divided by the population within the zip code (ESRI 2023 population estimates), per 100,000 population.

Frequency: The frequencies reflected in the dashboard refer to the number of ED visits per selected category.

Syndrome Definitions

The New York State Department of Health defines Fever Syndrome as, “Acute potential febrile illness of origin not specified OR Fever and septicemia not otherwise specified (e.g., fever/high temperature, chills/shiver, body pain) OR Unspecified viral illness even when it is unknown if fever is present (e.g., general malaise/viral infection/illness).”
Between 01/01/2020-12/31/2023, the New York State Department of Health defined Respiratory Syndrome as, “Acute infection of upper and/or lower respiratory tract:
1. Specific diagnosis (e.g., pneumonia, influenza, bronchitis)
2. Non-specific diagnosis (e.g., pharyngitis/laryngitis, otitis, tonsillitis) OR Acute non-specific conditions (e.g., SOB/DIB/dyspnea/hypoxia, cough/whooping/hemoptysis, fever/chills/shiver, throat pain/sore/ache/itch/dry, cold/viral infection/URI, ear pain/ache/infection/inflammation).”

Note: Excludes chronic conditions such as asthma, COPD, allergic conditions

As of 01/01/2024, the New York State Department of Health defines Respiratory Syndrome as, “Respiratory syndrome contains acute upper, acute lower and both. Acute upper include common cold, sinusitis, ear infection, acute pharyngitis, tonsillopharyngitis, epiglottis and larynx. Acute lower include pneumonia and bronchiolitis. In many instances virus enter through the upper respiratory tract and subsequently spread to the lower respiratory tract”

Data Suppression for Confidentiality

Numerators less than 6 have been suppressed to maintain confidentiality.

Disclaimer

The Nassau County Department of Health (NCDOH) makes every effort to post accurate and reliable information, however it does not guarantee or warrant that the information is complete, accurate or up-to-date. This information is intended solely for the purpose of electronically providing the public with health-related data. The NCDOH assumes no responsibility for any error, omission, or other discrepancies between electronic and/or printed versions of this information. Nassau County and its officers, employees, and/or agents shall not be liable for damages or losses of any kind, including but not limited to direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, special or exemplary damages arising out of, or in connection with, the use or performance of such information, nor damages or losses caused by reliance upon the accuracy of any such information and/or damages incurred from the viewing, distributing, or copying of such materials.