Which role is responsible for confirming lab results in the reporting chain?

• A. Clinician reports patient directly to public health.
• B. Laboratory confirms and reports results.
• C. Public health authority diagnoses cases.
• D. Patient reports to media.

Answer: (B)

In disease surveillance, the step of confirming the diagnosis rests with the laboratory. The lab performs the diagnostic tests, verifies the results, and then reports these confirmed results to public health authorities. This ensures that the data entering the surveillance system are based on objective, laboratory-tested evidence, reducing the chance of false alarms and misclassification.

Clinicians may identify and report suspected cases to public health, and public health authorities may diagnose or classify cases after receiving information, but the formal confirmation of the lab result—and the reporting of that confirmed result—is the lab’s responsibility. Reporting to the media by the patient is not part of the official reporting chain and would not provide reliable data for surveillance.