Dengue Surveillance System by Than Htike Aung

[Than Htike Aung]

Introduction

The School Infectious Disease Early-Warning System (SIDES) is a critical, integrated surveillance platform designed to address the persistent challenge of Dengue Fever outbreaks, particularly among school-age children (5–15 years). Traditional disease reporting is often passive and slow, creating a significant time lag that allows outbreaks to escalate. SIDES solves this by utilizing the school environment—a high-contact population—as a sentinel indicator for broader community transmission. Our strategic objective is to shift public health action from reactive control to proactive intervention, dramatically reducing the time between illness onset and the launch of necessary public health responses.

Data Flow

SIDES employs a hybrid surveillance model that integrates active, syndromic, event-based, and sentinel approaches. The system’s functionality is driven by two core indicators: Student Absenteeism and self-reported Acute Febrile Illness (AFI).

The surveillance process is fully automated and begins with an Event Trigger when a student’s absence from provided RFID cards using UHF RFID Readers. This trigger immediately initiates the Verification & Screening phase via a LINE Chatbot, which prompts parents or guardians to complete a screening questionnaire.

If the symptoms meet the Suspected Case definition (acute fever plus two or more clinical features), the system generates a unique QR code for tracking and refers the student to a clinic. This is followed by the Confirmation phase, where hospital staff use a Mobile App to record final clinical and laboratory results (NS1, IgM, or RT-PCR). The final critical step is Action: a Confirmed Positive Case triggers immediate escalation and automatic notification to Local Health Authorities, enabling them to launch crucial vector control and public health interventions within 24 hours.

Technological Components

The SIDES infrastructure relies on three integrated technological components: UHF RFID Readers for automated attendance, the LINE Chatbot for efficient parental screening, and a Mobile App for fast, reliable laboratory confirmation entry by medical staff. A centralized Web App provides health authorities with a real-time dashboard for decision support.

[Wah Wah Lwin]

Hi Ko Aung!

Thanks for your informative presentation, it’s a great one! I learned good points about the SIDES platform components you mentioned in your slides. Also, the SIDES data flow appears logical and practical for the system.
Just one comment — it would be great to include who the key stakeholders are and what their roles will be within the system.
Regarding the indicators, I noticed that many will be used to evaluate the system. I’m curious to know how these indicators will be collected in order to assess the system’s effectiveness.

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