An Informatics-Based Approach for Sustainable Management of Factors Affecting the Spread of Infectious Diseases

Abstract

Several of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are directly or indirectly concerned with improving health and well-being of the world population. This paper presents an informaticsbased approach to the management and monitoring of infectious diseases, in the context of one of these SDGs focusing on the eradication of vector-borne diseases such as malaria, Zika and other neglected tropical diseases. Here we outline the challenges faced by many conventional approaches to ecoepidemiological modelling and proposes a distributed interactive architecture for teamwork coordination, and data integration at different levels of information, and across disciplines. This approach is illustrated by an application to the surveillance of Leishmaniasis, a neglected tropical disease, in remote regions.

Temporal and Spatial Elements in Interactive Epidemiological Maps

“…Therefore, the need for more robust methods for aggregation of diverse data sources for analysis and visualization through interactive maps is well established [10]. In response to this need, conventional epidemiological models have been supplemented -and in some cases replaced by -new methods such as agent-based modelling [15] to facilitate the incorporation of molecular epidemiological [10] and social network data into map representations [28].…”

“…As with spatial epidemiology, temporal epidemiological maps face a need for underlying disease and process models that can be better integrated to spatio-temporal analysis [33]. In this regard, and as we have pointed out, agent-based models [15] which can better account for complex boundary conditions and the spatiotemporal dynamics of disease spread, offer a promising alternative to traditional differential equation models [28].…”

Exploring Environmental and Geographical Factors Influencing the Spread of Infectious Diseases with Interactive Maps

“…Therefore, the need for more robust methods for aggregation of diverse data sources for analysis and visualisation through interactive maps is well established [47]. In response to this need, conventional epidemiological models have been supplemented-and in some cases replaced by-new methods such as agent-based modelling [48] to facilitate the incorporation of molecular epidemiological [47] and social network data into map representations [6].…”

“…As with spatial epidemiology, temporal epidemiological maps face a need for underlying disease and process models that can be better integrated to spatio-temporal analysis [45]. In this regard, and as we have previously pointed out, agent-based models [48] which can better account for complex boundary conditions and the spatio-temporal dynamics of disease spread, offer a promising alternative to traditional differential equation models [6].…”

“…In relation to infectious diseases, particularly those that are vector-borne and occur in areas affected by substantial changes in land use and climate, informatics support for epidemiological work needs to be able to provide effective means of gathering and aggregating information from diverse sources [6], including land use, climate, human movements and population density, distribution of peri-domestic and sylvatic animals which could act as disease reservoirs, distribution of disease vectors (such as mosquitoes, sandflies, etc. ), disease incidence and prevalence, healthcare services and infrastructure, and public health interventions, among others.…”