Rapid Sensor Technology: A Risk and System Complexity Analyses of Early Detection of Influenza-Like-Illnesses

• Main Authors: Pinto, Cesar Ariel, Bozkurt, Ipek
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: ODU Digital Commons 2009
• Subjects: Biosensor; Critical infrastructure; Biodefense; Risk; Pandemic; Complex; Health and Medical Administration; Respiratory Tract Diseases; Systems Engineering; Avian flu
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/emse_fac_pubs/56; https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1056&context=emse_fac_pubs

The development of effective and reliable methods to defend the nation against biological terrorism remains an urgent challenge to researchers in the areas of risk, bio-defense, public health, and emergency medicine. The emerging threat of the avian flu pandemic also highlights the unpreparedness of our nation's health care system to meet a highly contagious and infectious disease outbreak. The implementation of a rapid sensor technology for early detection of influenza-like-illness provides possible opportunities, as well as problems. Bounding and defining such a complex problem is one of the first challenges this research addresses. Approaching this problem from various perspectives such as risk management, critical infrastructures and emergency medicine proves to be a valid strategy for an efficient solution. After defining the problem and laying out a strategy, discussions on possible tools and techniques for the solution of the problem is presented in this paper, together with the compounding sources of and issues with complexity.