News

Bringing Ireland’s reporting schedule in line with international standards

HPSC is moving its weekly infectious disease reporting schedule for all disease surveillance outputs to the ISO calendar (which runs from Monday to Sunday), instead of the previously used Sunday - Saturday reporting schedule. This one-day adjustment will align HPSC’s epidemiological reporting with the schedule used for many other national and international datasets.

A clearer week-by-week picture of winter respiratory viruses

Another important change is the move to reporting winter respiratory virus notifications by epidemiological date, rather than the previously used notification date, which will provide a more accurate and timely picture of current disease activity.

This change will initially apply to influenza, COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). These viruses have been prioritised because consistent reporting by epidemiological date will provide stronger and more timely evidence to support public health action during the upcoming winter respiratory virus season. Reporting by epidemiological date will be extended to other notifiable diseases over time.

How HPSC tracks winter virus activity

Winter respiratory virus activity in Ireland is assessed using a mosaic of surveillance indicators. Together, these indicators provide a comprehensive picture of how and when winter viruses are circulating and support informed public health decisions.

Further information

What is the ISO calendar?
The ISO (International Organization for Standardization) calendar (specifically the ISO 8601 week date system) is an international standard calendar system that helps remove doubts that can result from the various day–date conventions, cultures and time zones that impact a global operation. It gives a way of presenting dates and times that is clearly defined and understandable to both people and machines.

What are epidemiological weeks?
Epidemiological weeks are standard 7-day reporting periods used in public health surveillance to track and compare infectious disease activity over time. Epidemiological week is assigned using a hierarchy of epidemiological dates, such as date of onset where available, followed by other relevant dates such as specimen date, or notification date. This helps ensure that cases are assigned to the week that best reflects when disease activity occurred. The epidemiological week in HPSC reports will now be based on aggregate epidemiological dates, grouped according to the ISO calendar.