Here are some examples of how information technology was applied to assist in the outbreak investigation process:
1. Verification and Preparation
The Early Warning, Alert and Response System (EWARS) application of WHO can be used to improve disease outbreak detection in emergency settings, such as in countries in conflict or following a natural disaster. The app can be used to collect data from various sources, such as healthcare facilities and the community. Standard alert thresholds for a disease can be programmed into the app, and when the threshold is exceeded, it will send an alert to the surveillance officer.
2. Describe the outbreak
Spreadsheet applications such as Microsoft Excel can be used in making a line list – a table containing basic information on each case (Unique ID number/case identifier, age, type of case, sex, etc.). A line list allows for organization of information and provides an overall picture. This will help in the creation of descriptive statistics and epi curve.
3. Hypothesis and testing
For analytical studies to test hypotheses, OpenEpi can be used. It is a free and open source software that provides statistics for counts and measurements in descriptive and analytic studies, stratified analysis with exact confidence limits, matched pair and person-time analysis, sample size and power calculations, random numbers, sensitivity, specificity and other evaluation statistics, R x C tables, chi-square for dose-response, and links to other useful sites.
4. Response and Action
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) shares public health data (mostly from England and sometimes other UK nations) via the UKHSA Data Dashboard. This dashboard covers a range of topics such as respiratory viruses, healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial resistance that inform public health decision making in England. It was developed to cater to different users, such as members of the general public, public health professionals, policy makers, and media.
