Healthcare workers' views on monitoring their absence and symptoms for the surveillance of emerging infections and their willingness to report During the discussions, a framework for a syndromic surveillance system was described to participants whereby absent staff, who suspected themselves of having a contagious illness, would be encouraged to report symptoms for daily monitoring and identification of potential outbreaks [12] . All felt they had experienced activities similar to those suggested, having been asked to report symptoms, stay away from work and in some cases provide specimens when unwell during the recent H1N1 outbreak.