A real-time medical cartography of epidemic disease (Nodding syndrome) using village-based lay mHealth reporters.
BACKGROUND:Disease surveillance in rural regions of many countries is poor, such that prolonged delays (months) may intervene between appearance of disease and its recognition by public health authorities. For infectious disorders, delayed recognition and intervention enables uncontrolled disease sp...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:3c02dfe4a3d44ccaad568fe1bfa7f61f 2023-05-15T15:12:38+02:00 A real-time medical cartography of epidemic disease (Nodding syndrome) using village-based lay mHealth reporters. Raquel Valdes Angues Austen Suits Valerie S Palmer Caesar Okot Robert A Okot Concy Atonywalo Suzanne K Gazda David L Kitara Moka Lantum Peter S Spencer 2018-06-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0006588 https://doaj.org/article/3c02dfe4a3d44ccaad568fe1bfa7f61f EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC6021112?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0006588 https://doaj.org/article/3c02dfe4a3d44ccaad568fe1bfa7f61f PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 12, Iss 6, p e0006588 (2018) Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 article 2018 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0006588 2022-12-31T12:06:31Z BACKGROUND:Disease surveillance in rural regions of many countries is poor, such that prolonged delays (months) may intervene between appearance of disease and its recognition by public health authorities. For infectious disorders, delayed recognition and intervention enables uncontrolled disease spread. We tested the feasibility in northern Uganda of developing real-time, village-based health surveillance of an epidemic of Nodding syndrome (NS) using software-programmed smartphones operated by minimally trained lay mHealth reporters. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:We used a customized data collection platform (Magpi) that uses mobile phones and real-time cloud-based storage with global positioning system coordinates and time stamping. Pilot studies on sleep behavior of U.S. and Ugandan medical students identified and resolved Magpi-programmed cell phone issues. Thereafter, we deployed Magpi in combination with a lay-operator network of eight mHealth reporters to develop a real-time electronic map of child health, injury and illness relating to NS in rural northern Uganda. Surveillance data were collected for three consecutive months from 10 villages heavily affected by NS. Overall, a total of 240 NS-affected households and an average of 326 children with NS, representing 30 households and approximately 40 NS children per mHealth reporter, were monitored every week by the lay mHealth team. Data submitted for analysis in the USA and Uganda remotely pinpointed the household location and number of NS deaths, injuries, newly reported cases of head nodding (n = 22), and the presence or absence of anti-seizure medication. CONCLUSIONS AND SIGNIFICANCE:This study demonstrates the feasibility of using lay mHealth workers to develop a real-time cartography of epidemic disease in remote rural villages that can facilitate and steer clinical, educational and research interventions in a timely manner. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 12 6 e0006588 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
spellingShingle |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Raquel Valdes Angues Austen Suits Valerie S Palmer Caesar Okot Robert A Okot Concy Atonywalo Suzanne K Gazda David L Kitara Moka Lantum Peter S Spencer A real-time medical cartography of epidemic disease (Nodding syndrome) using village-based lay mHealth reporters. |
topic_facet |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
description |
BACKGROUND:Disease surveillance in rural regions of many countries is poor, such that prolonged delays (months) may intervene between appearance of disease and its recognition by public health authorities. For infectious disorders, delayed recognition and intervention enables uncontrolled disease spread. We tested the feasibility in northern Uganda of developing real-time, village-based health surveillance of an epidemic of Nodding syndrome (NS) using software-programmed smartphones operated by minimally trained lay mHealth reporters. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:We used a customized data collection platform (Magpi) that uses mobile phones and real-time cloud-based storage with global positioning system coordinates and time stamping. Pilot studies on sleep behavior of U.S. and Ugandan medical students identified and resolved Magpi-programmed cell phone issues. Thereafter, we deployed Magpi in combination with a lay-operator network of eight mHealth reporters to develop a real-time electronic map of child health, injury and illness relating to NS in rural northern Uganda. Surveillance data were collected for three consecutive months from 10 villages heavily affected by NS. Overall, a total of 240 NS-affected households and an average of 326 children with NS, representing 30 households and approximately 40 NS children per mHealth reporter, were monitored every week by the lay mHealth team. Data submitted for analysis in the USA and Uganda remotely pinpointed the household location and number of NS deaths, injuries, newly reported cases of head nodding (n = 22), and the presence or absence of anti-seizure medication. CONCLUSIONS AND SIGNIFICANCE:This study demonstrates the feasibility of using lay mHealth workers to develop a real-time cartography of epidemic disease in remote rural villages that can facilitate and steer clinical, educational and research interventions in a timely manner. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Raquel Valdes Angues Austen Suits Valerie S Palmer Caesar Okot Robert A Okot Concy Atonywalo Suzanne K Gazda David L Kitara Moka Lantum Peter S Spencer |
author_facet |
Raquel Valdes Angues Austen Suits Valerie S Palmer Caesar Okot Robert A Okot Concy Atonywalo Suzanne K Gazda David L Kitara Moka Lantum Peter S Spencer |
author_sort |
Raquel Valdes Angues |
title |
A real-time medical cartography of epidemic disease (Nodding syndrome) using village-based lay mHealth reporters. |
title_short |
A real-time medical cartography of epidemic disease (Nodding syndrome) using village-based lay mHealth reporters. |
title_full |
A real-time medical cartography of epidemic disease (Nodding syndrome) using village-based lay mHealth reporters. |
title_fullStr |
A real-time medical cartography of epidemic disease (Nodding syndrome) using village-based lay mHealth reporters. |
title_full_unstemmed |
A real-time medical cartography of epidemic disease (Nodding syndrome) using village-based lay mHealth reporters. |
title_sort |
real-time medical cartography of epidemic disease (nodding syndrome) using village-based lay mhealth reporters. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0006588 https://doaj.org/article/3c02dfe4a3d44ccaad568fe1bfa7f61f |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 12, Iss 6, p e0006588 (2018) |
op_relation |
http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC6021112?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0006588 https://doaj.org/article/3c02dfe4a3d44ccaad568fe1bfa7f61f |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0006588 |
container_title |
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
container_volume |
12 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
e0006588 |
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1766343290279428096 |