Positive predictive value of the German notification system for infectious diseases: Surveillance data from eight local health departments, Berlin, 2012

The German Infection Protection Act requires notifying certain cases of infectious diseases to local health departments (LHD) in Germany. LHDs transmit notifications meeting case definitions to the national health authority, where the proportion of discarded notifications is not known. The proportion of discarded cases at the level of LHDs can be expressed as the positive predictive value (PPV) of the notification system. The PPV can be used to...