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Maaß L, Angoumis K, Freye M, Pan CC. Mapping Digital Public Health Interventions Among Existing Digital Technologies and Internet-Based Interventions to Maintain and Improve Population Health in Practice: Scoping Review. J Med Internet Res 2024; 26:e53927. [PMID: 39018096 PMCID: PMC11292160 DOI: 10.2196/53927] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2023] [Revised: 01/31/2024] [Accepted: 05/15/2024] [Indexed: 07/18/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The rapid progression and integration of digital technologies into public health have reshaped the global landscape of health care delivery and disease prevention. In pursuit of better population health and health care accessibility, many countries have integrated digital interventions into their health care systems, such as web-based consultations, electronic health records, and telemedicine. Despite the increasing prevalence and relevance of digital technologies in public health and their varying definitions, there has been a shortage of studies examining whether these technologies align with the established definition and core characteristics of digital public health (DiPH) interventions. Hence, the imperative need for a scoping review emerges to explore the breadth of literature dedicated to this subject. OBJECTIVE This scoping review aims to outline DiPH interventions from different implementation stages for health promotion, primary to tertiary prevention, including health care and disease surveillance and monitoring. In addition, we aim to map the reported intervention characteristics, including their technical features and nontechnical elements. METHODS Original studies or reports of DiPH intervention focused on population health were eligible for this review. PubMed, Web of Science, CENTRAL, IEEE Xplore, and the ACM Full-Text Collection were searched for relevant literature (last updated on October 5, 2022). Intervention characteristics of each identified DiPH intervention, such as target groups, level of prevention or health care, digital health functions, intervention types, and public health functions, were extracted and used to map DiPH interventions. MAXQDA 2022.7 (VERBI GmbH) was used for qualitative data analysis of such interventions' technical functions and nontechnical characteristics. RESULTS In total, we identified and screened 15,701 records, of which 1562 (9.94%) full texts were considered relevant and were assessed for eligibility. Finally, we included 185 (11.84%) publications, which reported 179 different DiPH interventions. Our analysis revealed a diverse landscape of interventions, with telemedical services, health apps, and electronic health records as dominant types. These interventions targeted a wide range of populations and settings, demonstrating their adaptability. The analysis highlighted the multifaceted nature of digital interventions, necessitating precise definitions and standardized terminologies for effective collaboration and evaluation. CONCLUSIONS Although this scoping review was able to map characteristics and technical functions among 13 intervention types in DiPH, emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence might have been underrepresented in our study. This review underscores the diversity of DiPH interventions among and within intervention groups. Moreover, it highlights the importance of precise terminology for effective planning and evaluation. This review promotes cross-disciplinary collaboration by emphasizing the need for clear definitions, distinct technological functions, and well-defined use cases. It lays the foundation for international benchmarks and comparability within DiPH systems. Further research is needed to map intervention characteristics in this still-evolving field continuously. TRIAL REGISTRATION PROSPERO CRD42021265562; https://tinyurl.com/43jksb3k. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID) RR2-10.2196/33404.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Maaß
- University of Bremen, SOCIUM Research Center on Inequality and Social Policy, Bremen, Germany
- Leibniz ScienceCampus Digital Public Health Bremen, Bremen, Germany
- Digital Health Section, European Public Health Association - EUPHA, Utrecht, Netherlands
| | - Konstantinos Angoumis
- University of Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany
- Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology - BIPS, Bremen, Germany
| | - Merle Freye
- Leibniz ScienceCampus Digital Public Health Bremen, Bremen, Germany
- University of Bremen, Institute for Information, Health and Medical Law - IGMR, Bremen, Germany
| | - Chen-Chia Pan
- Leibniz ScienceCampus Digital Public Health Bremen, Bremen, Germany
- Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology - BIPS, Bremen, Germany
- University of Bremen, Institute for Public Health and Nursing Research - IPP, Bremen, Germany
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Domnich A, Ferrari A, Ogliastro M, Orsi A, Icardi G. Web search volume as a near-real-time complementary surveillance tool of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) in Italy. Ticks Tick Borne Dis 2024; 15:102332. [PMID: 38484539 DOI: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2024.102332] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2023] [Revised: 03/04/2024] [Accepted: 03/08/2024] [Indexed: 03/24/2024]
Abstract
The Internet is an important gateway for accessing health-related information, and data generated through web queries have been increasingly used as a complementary source for monitoring and forecasting of infectious diseases and they may partially address the issue of underreporting. In this study, we assessed whether tick-borne encephalitis (TBE)-related Internet search volume may be useful as a complementary tool for TBE surveillance in Italy. Monthly Google Trends (GT) data for TBE-related information were extracted for the period between January 2017 and September 2022, corresponding to the available time series of TBE notifications in Italy. Time series modeling was performed by applying seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average (SARIMA) models with or without GT data. The search terms relative to tick bites reflected best the observed temporal distribution of TBE cases, showing a correlation coefficient of 0.81 (95 % CI: 0.71-0.88). Particularly, both the reported number of TBE cases and GT searches occurred mainly during the summer. The peak of disease notifications coincided with that of Google searches in 4 of 6 years. Once calibrated, SARIMA models with or without GT data were applied to a validation set. Retrospective forecast made by the model with GT data was associated with a lower prediction error and accurately predicted the peak timing. By contrast, the traditional SARIMA model underestimated the actual number of TBE notifications by 65 %. Timeliness, easy availability, low cost and transparency make monitoring of the TBE-related Internet search queries a promising addition to the traditional methods of TBE surveillance in Italy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander Domnich
- Hygiene Unit, San Martino Policlinico Hospital - IRCCS for Oncology and Neurosciences, Genoa, Italy.
| | - Allegra Ferrari
- Department of Health Sciences, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
| | | | - Andrea Orsi
- Hygiene Unit, San Martino Policlinico Hospital - IRCCS for Oncology and Neurosciences, Genoa, Italy; Department of Health Sciences, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
| | - Giancarlo Icardi
- Hygiene Unit, San Martino Policlinico Hospital - IRCCS for Oncology and Neurosciences, Genoa, Italy; Department of Health Sciences, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
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Langer J, Welch VL, Moran MM, Cane A, Lopez SMC, Srivastava A, Enstone A, Sears A, Markus K, Heuser M, Kewley R, Whittle I. The Cost of Seasonal Influenza: A Systematic Literature Review on the Humanistic and Economic Burden of Influenza in Older (≥ 65 Years Old) Adults. Adv Ther 2024; 41:945-966. [PMID: 38261171 PMCID: PMC10879238 DOI: 10.1007/s12325-023-02770-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2023] [Accepted: 12/13/2023] [Indexed: 01/24/2024]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Adults aged ≥ 65 years contribute a large proportion of influenza-related hospitalizations and deaths due to increased risk of complications, which result in high medical costs and reduced health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Although seasonal influenza vaccines are recommended for older adults, the effectiveness of current vaccines is dependent on several factors including strain matching and recipient demographic factors. This systemic literature review aimed to explore the economic and humanistic burden of influenza in adults aged ≥ 65 years. METHODS An electronic database search was conducted to identify studies assessing the economic and humanistic burden of influenza, including influenza symptoms that impact the HRQoL and patient-related outcomes in adults aged ≥ 65 years. Studies were to be published in English and conducted in Germany, France, Spain, and Italy, the UK, USA, Canada, China, Japan, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa. RESULTS Thirty-eight studies reported on the economic and humanistic burden of influenza in adults aged ≥ 65 years. Higher direct costs were reported for people at increased risk of influenza-related complications compared to those at low risk. Lower influenza-related total costs were found in those vaccinated with adjuvanted inactivated trivalent influenza vaccine (aTIV) compared to high-dose trivalent influenza vaccine (TIV-HD). Older age was associated with an increased occurrence and longer duration of certain influenza symptoms. CONCLUSION Despite the limited data identified, results show that influenza exerts a high humanistic and economic burden in older adults. Further research is required to confirm findings and to identify the unmet needs of current vaccines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jakob Langer
- Pfizer Patient & Health Impact, Lisbon, Portugal.
- Pfizer Portugal, Lagoas Park, Edifício 10, 2740-271, Porto Salvo, Portugal.
| | - Verna L Welch
- Pfizer Vaccines Medical & Scientific Affairs, Collegeville, PA, USA
| | - Mary M Moran
- Pfizer Vaccines Medical & Scientific Affairs, Collegeville, PA, USA
| | - Alejandro Cane
- Pfizer Vaccines Medical & Scientific Affairs, Collegeville, PA, USA
| | | | - Amit Srivastava
- Pfizer Emerging Markets, Vaccines Medical & Scientific Affairs, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | | | - Amy Sears
- Adelphi Values PROVE, Bollington, SK10 5JB, UK
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Bokányi E, Vizi Z, Koltai J, Röst G, Karsai M. Real-time estimation of the effective reproduction number of COVID-19 from behavioral data. Sci Rep 2023; 13:21452. [PMID: 38052841 PMCID: PMC10698193 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-46418-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2023] [Accepted: 10/31/2023] [Indexed: 12/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Monitoring the effective reproduction number [Formula: see text] of a rapidly unfolding pandemic in real-time is key to successful mitigation and prevention strategies. However, existing methods based on case numbers, hospital admissions or fatalities suffer from multiple measurement biases and temporal lags due to high test positivity rates or delays in symptom development or administrative reporting. Alternative methods such as web search and social media tracking are less directly indicating epidemic prevalence over time. We instead record age-stratified anonymous contact matrices at a daily resolution using a longitudinal online-offline survey in Hungary during the first two waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. This approach is innovative, cheap, and provides information in near real-time for estimating [Formula: see text] at a daily resolution. Moreover, it allows to complement traditional surveillance systems by signaling periods when official monitoring infrastructures are unreliable due to observational biases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eszter Bokányi
- Institute of Logic, Language and Computation, University of Amsterdam, 1090GE, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Zsolt Vizi
- National Laboratory for Health Security, University of Szeged, Szeged, 6720, Hungary
| | - Júlia Koltai
- National Laboratory for Health Security, Centre for Social Sciences, Budapest, 1097, Hungary
- Faculty of Social Sciences, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, 1117, Hungary
| | - Gergely Röst
- National Laboratory for Health Security, University of Szeged, Szeged, 6720, Hungary
| | - Márton Karsai
- Department of Network and Data Science, Central European University, 1100, Vienna, Austria.
- National Laboratory for Health Security, Alfréd Rényi Institute of Mathematics, Budapest, 1053, Hungary.
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Atkins N, Harikar M, Duggan K, Zawiejska A, Vardhan V, Vokey L, Dozier M, de los Godos EF, Mcswiggan E, Mcquillan R, Theodoratou E, Shi T. What are the characteristics of participatory surveillance systems for influenza-like-illness? J Glob Health 2023; 13:04130. [PMID: 37856769 PMCID: PMC10587643 DOI: 10.7189/jogh.13.04130] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Seasonal influenza causes significant morbidity and mortality, with an estimated 9.4 million hospitalisations and 290 000-650 000 respiratory related-deaths globally each year. Influenza can also cause mild illness, which is why not all symptomatic persons might necessarily be tested for influenza. To monitor influenza activity, healthcare facility-based syndromic surveillance for influenza-like illness is often implemented. Participatory surveillance systems for influenza-like illness (ILI) play an important role in influenza surveillance and can complement traditional facility-based surveillance systems to provide real-time estimates of influenza-like illness activity. However, such systems differ in designs between countries and contexts, making it necessary to identify their characteristics to better understand how they fit traditional surveillance systems. Consequently, we aimed to investigate the performance of participatory surveillance systems for ILI worldwide. Methods We systematically searched four databases for relevant articles on influenza participatory surveillance systems for ILI. We extracted data from the included, eligible studies and assessed their quality using the Joanna Briggs Critical Appraisal Tools. We then synthesised the findings using narrative synthesis. Results We included 39 out of 3797 retrieved articles for analysis. We identified 26 participatory surveillance systems, most of which sought to capture the burden and trends of influenza-like illness and acute respiratory infections among cohorts with risk factors for influenza-like illness. Of all the surveillance system attributes assessed, 52% reported on correlation with other surveillance systems, 27% on representativeness, and 21% on acceptability. Among studies that reported these attributes, all systems were rated highly in terms of simplicity, flexibility, sensitivity, utility, and timeliness. Most systems (87.5%) were also well accepted by users, though participation rates varied widely. However, despite their potential for greater reach and accessibility, most systems (90%) fared poorly in terms of representativeness of the population. Stability was a concern for some systems (60%), as was completeness (50%). Conclusions The analysis of participatory surveillance system attributes showed their potential in providing timely and reliable influenza data, especially in combination with traditional hospital- and laboratory led-surveillance systems. Further research is needed to design future systems with greater uptake and utility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nadege Atkins
- Center for Population Health Sciences, Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
- UNCOVER (Usher Network for COVID-19 Evidence Reviews) Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
- Joint first authorship
| | - Mandara Harikar
- Center for Population Health Sciences, Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
- UNCOVER (Usher Network for COVID-19 Evidence Reviews) Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
- Joint first authorship
| | - Kirsten Duggan
- Center for Population Health Sciences, Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
- UNCOVER (Usher Network for COVID-19 Evidence Reviews) Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Agnieszka Zawiejska
- Center for Population Health Sciences, Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
- UNCOVER (Usher Network for COVID-19 Evidence Reviews) Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Vaishali Vardhan
- Center for Population Health Sciences, Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
- UNCOVER (Usher Network for COVID-19 Evidence Reviews) Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Laura Vokey
- Center for Population Health Sciences, Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
- UNCOVER (Usher Network for COVID-19 Evidence Reviews) Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Marshall Dozier
- Center for Population Health Sciences, Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
- UNCOVER (Usher Network for COVID-19 Evidence Reviews) Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Emma F de los Godos
- Center for Population Health Sciences, Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
- UNCOVER (Usher Network for COVID-19 Evidence Reviews) Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
- Equal contribution
| | - Emilie Mcswiggan
- Center for Population Health Sciences, Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
- UNCOVER (Usher Network for COVID-19 Evidence Reviews) Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Ruth Mcquillan
- Center for Population Health Sciences, Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
- UNCOVER (Usher Network for COVID-19 Evidence Reviews) Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
- Equal contribution
| | - Evropi Theodoratou
- Center for Population Health Sciences, Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
- UNCOVER (Usher Network for COVID-19 Evidence Reviews) Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
- Equal contribution
| | - Ting Shi
- Center for Population Health Sciences, Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
- Equal contribution
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Leal Neto O, Paolotti D, Dalton C, Carlson S, Susumpow P, Parker M, Phetra P, Lau EHY, Colizza V, Jan van Hoek A, Kjelsø C, Brownstein JS, Smolinski MS. Enabling Multicentric Participatory Disease Surveillance for Global Health Enhancement: Viewpoint on Global Flu View. JMIR Public Health Surveill 2023; 9:e46644. [PMID: 37490846 PMCID: PMC10504624 DOI: 10.2196/46644] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2023] [Revised: 06/21/2023] [Accepted: 07/25/2023] [Indexed: 07/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Participatory surveillance (PS) has been defined as the bidirectional process of transmitting and receiving data for action by directly engaging the target population. Often represented as self-reported symptoms directly from the public, PS can provide evidence of an emerging disease or concentration of symptoms in certain areas, potentially identifying signs of an early outbreak. The construction of sets of symptoms to represent various disease syndromes provides a mechanism for the early detection of multiple health threats. Global Flu View (GFV) is the first-ever system that merges influenza-like illness (ILI) data from more than 8 countries plus 1 region (Hong Kong) on 4 continents for global monitoring of this annual health threat. GFV provides a digital ecosystem for spatial and temporal visualization of syndromic aggregates compatible with ILI from the various systems currently participating in GFV in near real time, updated weekly. In 2018, the first prototype of a digital platform to combine data from several ILI PS programs was created. At that time, the priority was to have a digital environment that brought together different programs through an application program interface, providing a real time map of syndromic trends that could demonstrate where and when ILI was spreading in various regions of the globe. After 2 years running as an experimental model and incorporating feedback from partner programs, GFV was restructured to empower the community of public health practitioners, data scientists, and researchers by providing an open data channel among these contributors for sharing experiences across the network. GFV was redesigned to serve not only as a data hub but also as a dynamic knowledge network around participatory ILI surveillance by providing knowledge exchange among programs. Connectivity between existing PS systems enables a network of cooperation and collaboration with great potential for continuous public health impact. The exchange of knowledge within this network is not limited only to health professionals and researchers but also provides an opportunity for the general public to have an active voice in the collective construction of health settings. The focus on preparing the next generation of epidemiologists will be of great importance to scale innovative approaches like PS. GFV provides a useful example of the value of globally integrated PS data to help reduce the risks and damages of the next pandemic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Onicio Leal Neto
- Ending Pandemics, San Francisco, CA, United States
- Department of Computer Science, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Eric H Y Lau
- School of Public Health, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Vittoria Colizza
- Pierre Louis Institute of Epidemiology and Public Health, INSERM, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France
| | - Albert Jan van Hoek
- National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, Netherlands
| | | | - John S Brownstein
- Boston Children Hospital, Harvard University, Boston, MA, United States
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Chironna M, Dipierro G, Franzini JM, Icardi G, Loconsole D, Pariani E, Pastore S, Volpe M. Assessment of 2021/22 influenza epidemic scenarios in Italy during SARS-CoV-2 outbreak. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0282782. [PMID: 36893137 PMCID: PMC9997945 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0282782] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2022] [Accepted: 02/22/2023] [Indexed: 03/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Global mitigation strategies to tackle the threat posed by SARS-CoV-2 have produced a significant decrease of the severity of 2020/21 seasonal influenza, which might result in a reduced population natural immunity for the upcoming 2021/22 influenza season. To predict the spread of influenza virus in Italy and the impact of prevention and control measures, we present an age-structured Susceptible-Exposed-Infectious-Removed (SEIR) model including the role of social mixing patterns and the impact of age-stratified vaccination strategies and Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions (NPIs) such as school closures, partial lockdown, as well as the adoption of personal protective equipment and the practice of hand hygiene. We find that vaccination campaigns with standard coverage would produce a remarkable mitigation of the spread of the disease in moderate influenza seasons, making the adoption of NPIs unnecessary. However, in case of severe seasonal epidemics, a standard vaccination coverage would not be sufficiently effective in fighting the epidemic, thus implying that a combination with the adoption of NPIs is necessary to contain the disease. Alternatively, our results show that the enhancement of the vaccination coverage would reduce the need to adopt NPIs, thus limiting the economic and social impacts that NPIs might produce. Our results highlight the need to respond to the influenza epidemic by strengthening the vaccination coverage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Chironna
- Department of interdisciplinary Medicine, University of Bari, Aldo Moro Policlinico, Bari, Italy
| | | | | | - Giancarlo Icardi
- Department of Health’s Science (DiSSal), University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
- Hygiene Unit, San Martino Policlinico Hospital-IRCCS for Oncology and Neurosciences, Genoa, Italy
| | - Daniela Loconsole
- Department of interdisciplinary Medicine, University of Bari, Aldo Moro Policlinico, Bari, Italy
| | - Elena Pariani
- Department of Biomedical Sciences for Health, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
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Glatman-Freedman A, Kaufman Z. Syndromic Surveillance of Infectious Diseases. Infect Dis (Lond) 2023. [DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-2463-0_1088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/10/2023] Open
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Dalmau Llorca MR, Castro Blanco E, Aguilar Martín C, Carrasco-Querol N, Hernández Rojas Z, Gonçalves AQ, Fernández-Sáez J. Early Detection of the Start of the Influenza Epidemic Using Surveillance Systems in Catalonia (PREVIGrip Study). INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2022; 19:17048. [PMID: 36554929 PMCID: PMC9779123 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph192417048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2022] [Revised: 11/29/2022] [Accepted: 12/08/2022] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Sentinel physician networks are the method of influenza surveillance recommended by the World Health Organization. Weekly clinical diagnoses based on clinical history are a surveillance method that provides more immediate information. The objective of this study is to evaluate which influenza surveillance system is capable of the earliest detection of the start of the annual influenza epidemic. We carried out an ecological time-series study based on influenza data from the population of Catalonia from the 2010-2011 to the 2018-2019 seasons. Rates of clinical diagnoses and of confirmed cases in Catalonia were used to study the changes in trends in the different surveillance systems, the differences in area and time lag between the curves of the different surveillance systems using Joinpoint regression, Simpson's 1/3 method and cross-correlation, respectively. In general, changes in the trend of the curves were detected before the beginning of the epidemic in most seasons, using the rates for the complete seasons and the pre-epidemic rates. No time lag was observed between clinical diagnoses and the total confirmed cases. Therefore, clinical diagnoses in Primary Care could be a useful tool for early detection of the start of influenza epidemics in Catalonia.
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Affiliation(s)
- M. Rosa Dalmau Llorca
- Primary Care Intervention Evaluation Research Group (GAVINA Research Group), IDIAPJGol Terres de l’Ebre, 43500 Tortosa, Spain
- Servei d’Atenció Primària Terres de l’Ebre, Institut Català de la Salut, 43500 Tortosa, Spain
- Campus Terres de l’Ebre, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, 43500 Tortosa, Spain
| | - Elisabet Castro Blanco
- Primary Care Intervention Evaluation Research Group (GAVINA Research Group), IDIAPJGol Terres de l’Ebre, 43500 Tortosa, Spain
- Campus Terres de l’Ebre, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, 43500 Tortosa, Spain
- Terres de l’Ebre Research Support Unit, Foundation University Institute for Primary Health Care Research Jordi Gol i Gurina (IDIAPJGol), 43500 Tortosa, Spain
| | - Carina Aguilar Martín
- Primary Care Intervention Evaluation Research Group (GAVINA Research Group), IDIAPJGol Terres de l’Ebre, 43500 Tortosa, Spain
- Servei d’Atenció Primària Terres de l’Ebre, Institut Català de la Salut, 43500 Tortosa, Spain
- Unitat d’Avaluació, Direcció d’Atenció Primària Terres de l’Ebre, Institut Català de la Salut, 43500 Tortosa, Spain
| | - Noèlia Carrasco-Querol
- Primary Care Intervention Evaluation Research Group (GAVINA Research Group), IDIAPJGol Terres de l’Ebre, 43500 Tortosa, Spain
- Terres de l’Ebre Research Support Unit, Foundation University Institute for Primary Health Care Research Jordi Gol i Gurina (IDIAPJGol), 43500 Tortosa, Spain
| | - Zojaina Hernández Rojas
- Primary Care Intervention Evaluation Research Group (GAVINA Research Group), IDIAPJGol Terres de l’Ebre, 43500 Tortosa, Spain
- Servei d’Atenció Primària Terres de l’Ebre, Institut Català de la Salut, 43500 Tortosa, Spain
- Campus Terres de l’Ebre, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, 43500 Tortosa, Spain
| | - Alessandra Queiroga Gonçalves
- Primary Care Intervention Evaluation Research Group (GAVINA Research Group), IDIAPJGol Terres de l’Ebre, 43500 Tortosa, Spain
- Servei d’Atenció Primària Terres de l’Ebre, Institut Català de la Salut, 43500 Tortosa, Spain
| | - José Fernández-Sáez
- Primary Care Intervention Evaluation Research Group (GAVINA Research Group), IDIAPJGol Terres de l’Ebre, 43500 Tortosa, Spain
- Servei d’Atenció Primària Terres de l’Ebre, Institut Català de la Salut, 43500 Tortosa, Spain
- Campus Terres de l’Ebre, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, 43500 Tortosa, Spain
- Unitat de Recerca, Gerència Territorial Terres de l’Ebre, Institut Català de la Salut, 43500 Tortosa, Spain
- Unitat Docent de Medicina de Familia i Comunitària, Tortosa-Terres de l’Ebre, Institut Català de la Salut, 43500 Tortosa, Spain
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An Economic Evaluation of the Adjuvanted Quadrivalent Influenza Vaccine Compared with Standard-Dose Quadrivalent Influenza Vaccine in the Spanish Older Adult Population. Vaccines (Basel) 2022; 10:vaccines10081360. [PMID: 36016247 PMCID: PMC9412909 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines10081360] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2022] [Revised: 08/08/2022] [Accepted: 08/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Standard-dose quadrivalent influenza vaccines (QIV) are designed to provide protection against all four influenza strains. Adjuvanted QIV (aQIV), indicated for individuals aged 65+ years, combines MF59® adjuvant (an oil-in-water emulsion of squalene oil) with a standard dose of antigen, and is designed to produce stronger and longer immune response, especially in the elderly where immunosenescence reduces vaccine effectiveness. This study evaluated the cost-effectiveness of aQIV vs. egg-based standard-dose QIV (QIVe) in the elderly population, from the payer and societal perspective in Spain. A dynamic transmission model, which accounts for herd protection, was used to predict the number of medically attended infections in Spain. A decision tree structure was used to forecast influenza-related costs and benefits. Influenza-related probabilities of outpatient visit, hospitalization, work absenteeism, mortality, and associated utilities and costs were extracted from Spanish and European published literature. Relative vaccine effectiveness (rVE) was sourced from two different meta-analyses: the first meta-analysis was informed by laboratory-confirmed influenza studies only, resulting in a rVE = 34.6% (CI95% 2-66%) in favor of aQIV; the second meta-analysis included real world evidence influenza-related medical encounters outcomes, resulting in a rVE = 13.9% (CI95% 4.2-23.5%) in benefit of aQIV. All costs were expressed in 2021 euros. Results indicate that replacing QIVe with aQIV in the Spanish elderly population would prevent on average 43,664 influenza complicated cases, 1111 hospitalizations, and 569 deaths (with a rVE = 34.6%) or 19,104 influenza complicated cases, 486 hospitalizations, and 252 deaths (with a rVE = 13.9%). When the rVE of aQIV vs. QIVe is 34.6%, the incremental cost per quality adjusted life years (QALY) gained was €2240 from the payer; from the societal perspective, aQIV was cost saving compared with QIVe. If the rVE was 13.9%, the incremental cost per QALY was €6694 and €3936 from the payer and societal perspective, respectively. Sensitivity analyses validated the robustness of these findings. Results indicate that replacing QIVe with aQIV in the Spanish elderly population is a cost-effective strategy for the Spanish healthcare system.
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Domnich A, de Waure C. Comparative effectiveness of adjuvanted versus high-dose seasonal influenza vaccines for older adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Int J Infect Dis 2022; 122:855-863. [PMID: 35878803 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijid.2022.07.048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2022] [Revised: 07/18/2022] [Accepted: 07/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES MF59-adjuvanted standard-dose and non-adjuvanted high-dose seasonal influenza vaccines have been developed to protect older adults at high risk of severe complications. The aim of this study was to summarize the available evidence on the comparative efficacy/effectiveness of these two vaccines. METHODS A systematic literature review (CRD42022313021) of experimental and observational studies was conducted according to the PRISMA guidelines. When possible, the extracted effect sizes were pooled in random-effects meta-analyses. RESULTS Ten studies were identified. Of these, no head-to-head randomized controlled trials were identified. All available studies had retrospective cohort design and large sample sizes, were conducted in the United States between 2016/17 and 2019/20 seasons and were at moderate risk of bias. Relative effectiveness estimates were limited to non-laboratory-confirmed clinical endpoints, such as medical encounters including hospitalizations. While most pooled relative effectiveness estimates were close to null, few statistically significant pooled effect sizes were small in magnitude, moved in opposite directions and depended on both the study sponsor and specificity of influenza-related outcomes. CONCLUSIONS At current, MF59-adjuvanted standard-dose and non-adjuvanted high-dose vaccines appear to have similar effectiveness in preventing seasonal influenza in older adults and no conclusive recommendations on the preference of one vaccine over another could be drawn.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander Domnich
- Hygiene Unit, San Martino Policlinico Hospital - IRCCS for Oncology and Neurosciences, Genoa, Italy.
| | - Chiara de Waure
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy
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Calabrò GE, Boccalini S, Panatto D, Rizzo C, Di Pietro ML, Abreha FM, Ajelli M, Amicizia D, Bechini A, Giacchetta I, Lai PL, Merler S, Primieri C, Trentini F, Violi S, Bonanni P, de Waure C. The New Quadrivalent Adjuvanted Influenza Vaccine for the Italian Elderly: A Health Technology Assessment. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2022; 19:ijerph19074166. [PMID: 35409848 PMCID: PMC8998177 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19074166] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2022] [Revised: 03/25/2022] [Accepted: 03/29/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Background. The elderly, commonly defined as subjects aged ≥65 years, are among the at-risk subjects recommended for annual influenza vaccination in European countries. Currently, two new vaccines are available for this population: the MF59-adjuvanted quadrivalent influenza vaccine (aQIV) and the high-dose quadrivalent influenza vaccine (hdQIV). Their multidimensional assessment might maximize the results in terms of achievable health benefits. Therefore, we carried out a Health Technology Assessment (HTA) of the aQIV by adopting a multidisciplinary policy-oriented approach to evaluate clinical, economic, organizational, and ethical implications for the Italian elderly. Methods. A HTA was conducted in 2020 to analyze influenza burden; characteristics, efficacy, and safety of aQIV and other available vaccines for the elderly; cost-effectiveness of aQIV; and related organizational and ethical implications. Comprehensive literature reviews/analyses were performed, and a transmission model was developed in order to address the above issues. Results. In Italy, the influenza burden on the elderly is high and from 77.7% to 96.1% of influenza-related deaths occur in the elderly. All available vaccines are effective and safe; however, aQIV, such as the adjuvanted trivalent influenza vaccine (aTIV), has proved more immunogenic and effective in the elderly. From the third payer’s perspective, but also from the societal one, the use of aQIV in comparison with egg-based standard QIV (eQIV) in the elderly population is cost-effective. The appropriateness of the use of available vaccines as well as citizens’ knowledge and attitudes remain a challenge for a successful vaccination campaign. Conclusions. The results of this project provide decision-makers with important evidence on the aQIV and support with scientific evidence on the appropriate use of vaccines in the elderly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giovanna Elisa Calabrò
- Section of Hygiene, University Department of Life Sciences and Public Health, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy;
- VIHTALI (Value in Health Technology and Academy for Leadership & Innovation), Spin Off of Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy
- Correspondence:
| | - Sara Boccalini
- Department of Health Sciences, University of Florence, 50121 Florence, Italy; (S.B.); (A.B.); (P.B.)
| | - Donatella Panatto
- Department of Health Sciences, University of Genoa, 16132 Genoa, Italy; (D.P.); (D.A.); (P.L.L.)
| | - Caterina Rizzo
- Clinical Pathways and Epidemiology Unit-Medical Direction, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, IRCCS, 00165 Rome, Italy;
| | - Maria Luisa Di Pietro
- Section of Hygiene, University Department of Life Sciences and Public Health, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy;
| | - Fasika Molla Abreha
- Graduate School of Health Economics and Management, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy;
| | - Marco Ajelli
- Laboratory for Computational Epidemiology and Public Health, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Indiana University School of Public Health, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA;
| | - Daniela Amicizia
- Department of Health Sciences, University of Genoa, 16132 Genoa, Italy; (D.P.); (D.A.); (P.L.L.)
| | - Angela Bechini
- Department of Health Sciences, University of Florence, 50121 Florence, Italy; (S.B.); (A.B.); (P.B.)
| | - Irene Giacchetta
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Perugia, 06123 Perugia, Italy; (I.G.); (C.P.); (S.V.); (C.d.W.)
| | - Piero Luigi Lai
- Department of Health Sciences, University of Genoa, 16132 Genoa, Italy; (D.P.); (D.A.); (P.L.L.)
| | - Stefano Merler
- Center for Health Emergencies, Bruno Kessler Foundation, 38122 Trento, Italy; (S.M.); (F.T.)
| | - Chiara Primieri
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Perugia, 06123 Perugia, Italy; (I.G.); (C.P.); (S.V.); (C.d.W.)
| | - Filippo Trentini
- Center for Health Emergencies, Bruno Kessler Foundation, 38122 Trento, Italy; (S.M.); (F.T.)
- Dondena Centre for Research on Social Dynamics and Public Policy, Bocconi University, 20136 Milan, Italy
| | - Sara Violi
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Perugia, 06123 Perugia, Italy; (I.G.); (C.P.); (S.V.); (C.d.W.)
| | - Paolo Bonanni
- Department of Health Sciences, University of Florence, 50121 Florence, Italy; (S.B.); (A.B.); (P.B.)
| | - Chiara de Waure
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Perugia, 06123 Perugia, Italy; (I.G.); (C.P.); (S.V.); (C.d.W.)
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Abstract
Syndromic surveillance systems monitor disease indicators to detect emergence of diseases and track their progression. Here, we report on a rapidly deployed active syndromic surveillance system for tracking COVID-19 in Israel. The system was a novel combination of active and passive components: Ads were shown to people searching for COVID-19 symptoms on the Google search engine. Those who clicked on the ads were referred to a chat bot which helped them decide whether they needed urgent medical care. Through its conversion optimization mechanism, the ad system was guided to focus on those people who required such care. Over 6 months, the ads were shown approximately 214,000 times and clicked on 12,000 times, and 722 people were informed they needed urgent care. Click rates on ads and the fraction of people deemed to require urgent care were correlated with the hospitalization rate ([Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], respectively) with a lead time of 9 days. Males and younger people were more likely to use the system, and younger people were more likely to be determined to require urgent care (slope: [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]). Thus, the system can assist in predicting case numbers and hospital load at a significant lead time and, simultaneously, help people determine if they need medical care.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elad Yom-Tov
- Microsoft Research, Alan Turing 3, Hertzliya, 4672415, Israel.
- Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management, Technion, Haifa, 3200000, Israel.
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Abstract
Influenza is a common respiratory infection that causes considerable morbidity and mortality worldwide each year. In recent years, along with the improvement in computational resources, there have been a number of important developments in the science of influenza surveillance and forecasting. Influenza surveillance systems have been improved by synthesizing multiple sources of information. Influenza forecasting has developed into an active field, with annual challenges in the United States that have stimulated improved methodologies. Work continues on the optimal approaches to assimilating surveillance data and information on relevant driving factors to improve estimates of the current situation (nowcasting) and to forecast future dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sheikh Taslim Ali
- World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Control, School of Public Health, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China;
| | - Benjamin J Cowling
- World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Control, School of Public Health, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China;
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Zhang Y, Bambrick H, Mengersen K, Tong S, Hu W. Using internet-based query and climate data to predict climate-sensitive infectious disease risks: a systematic review of epidemiological evidence. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIOMETEOROLOGY 2021; 65:2203-2214. [PMID: 34075475 DOI: 10.1007/s00484-021-02155-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2020] [Revised: 05/25/2021] [Accepted: 05/27/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
The use of internet-based query data offers a novel approach to improve disease surveillance and provides timely disease information. This paper systematically reviewed the literature on infectious disease predictions using internet-based query data and climate factors, discussed the current research progress and challenges, and provided some recommendations for future studies. We searched the relevant articles in the PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases between January 2000 and December 2019. We initially included studies that used internet-based query data to predict infectious disease epidemics, then we further filtered and appraised the studies that used both internet-based query data and climate factors. In total, 129 relevant papers were included in the review. The results showed that most studies used a simple descriptive approach (n=80; 62%) to detect epidemics of influenza (including influenza-like illness (ILI)) (n=88; 68%) and dengue (n=9; 7%). Most studies (n=61; 47%) purely used internet search metrics to predict the epidemics of infectious diseases, while only 3 out of the 129 papers included both climate variables and internet-based query data. Our research shows that including internet-based query data and climate variables could better predict climate-sensitive infectious disease epidemics; however, this method has not been widely used to date. Moreover, previous studies did not sufficiently consider the spatiotemporal uncertainty of infectious diseases. Our review suggests that further research should use both internet-based query and climate data to develop predictive models for climate-sensitive infectious diseases based on spatiotemporal models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuzhou Zhang
- School of Public Health and Social Work, Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Hilary Bambrick
- School of Public Health and Social Work, Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Kerrie Mengersen
- Science and Engineering Faculty, Mathematical Sciences and Centre for Data Science, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Shilu Tong
- School of Public Health and Social Work, Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
- Shanghai Children's Medical Centre, Shanghai Jiao-Tong University, Shanghai, China
- School of Public Health and Institute of Environment and Human Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China
- Center for Global Health, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Wenbiao Hu
- School of Public Health and Social Work, Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
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Marmara V, Marmara D, McMenemy P, Kleczkowski A. Cross-sectional telephone surveys as a tool to study epidemiological factors and monitor seasonal influenza activity in Malta. BMC Public Health 2021; 21:1828. [PMID: 34627201 PMCID: PMC8502089 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-021-11862-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2020] [Accepted: 09/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Seasonal influenza has major implications for healthcare services as outbreaks often lead to high activity levels in health systems. Being able to predict when such outbreaks occur is vital. Mathematical models have extensively been used to predict epidemics of infectious diseases such as seasonal influenza and to assess effectiveness of control strategies. Availability of comprehensive and reliable datasets used to parametrize these models is limited. In this paper we combine a unique epidemiological dataset collected in Malta through General Practitioners (GPs) with a novel method using cross-sectional surveys to study seasonal influenza dynamics in Malta in 2014–2016, to include social dynamics and self-perception related to seasonal influenza. Methods Two cross-sectional public surveys (n = 406 per survey) were performed by telephone across the Maltese population in 2014–15 and 2015–16 influenza seasons. Survey results were compared with incidence data (diagnosed seasonal influenza cases) collected by GPs in the same period and with Google Trends data for Malta. Information was collected on whether participants recalled their health status in past months, occurrences of influenza symptoms, hospitalisation rates due to seasonal influenza, seeking GP advice, and other medical information. Results We demonstrate that cross-sectional surveys are a reliable alternative data source to medical records. The two surveys gave comparable results, indicating that the level of recollection among the public is high. Based on two seasons of data, the reporting rate in Malta varies between 14 and 22%. The comparison with Google Trends suggests that the online searches peak at about the same time as the maximum extent of the epidemic, but the public interest declines and returns to background level. We also found that the public intensively searched the Internet for influenza-related terms even when number of cases was low. Conclusions Our research shows that a telephone survey is a viable way to gain deeper insight into a population’s self-perception of influenza and its symptoms and to provide another benchmark for medical statistics provided by GPs and Google Trends. The information collected can be used to improve epidemiological modelling of seasonal influenza and other infectious diseases, thus effectively contributing to public health. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-021-11862-x.
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Affiliation(s)
- V Marmara
- Faculty of Economics, Management & Accountancy, University of Malta, Msida, MSD, 2080, Malta
| | - D Marmara
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Mater Dei Hospital, Block A, Level 1, University of Malta, Msida, MSD, 2090, Malta.
| | - P McMenemy
- Department of Mathematics, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK94LA, Scotland, UK
| | - A Kleczkowski
- Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Strathclyde, Rm. 1001, 26 Richmond Street, Glasgow, G1 1XH, Scotland
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Zigman Suchsland ML, Rahmatullah I, Lutz B, Lyon V, Huang S, Kline E, Graham C, Cooper S, Su P, Smedinghoff S, Chu HY, Sewalk K, Brownstein JS, Thompson MJ. Evaluating an app-guided self-test for influenza: lessons learned for improving the feasibility of study designs to evaluate self-tests for respiratory viruses. BMC Infect Dis 2021; 21:617. [PMID: 34187397 PMCID: PMC8240430 DOI: 10.1186/s12879-021-06314-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2020] [Accepted: 06/10/2021] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Seasonal influenza leads to significant morbidity and mortality. Rapid self-tests could improve access to influenza testing in community settings. We aimed to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of a mobile app-guided influenza rapid self-test for adults with influenza like illness (ILI), and identify optimal methods for conducting accuracy studies for home-based assays for influenza and other respiratory viruses. Methods This cross-sectional study recruited adults who self-reported ILI online. Participants downloaded a mobile app, which guided them through two low nasal swab self-samples. Participants tested the index swab using a lateral flow assay. Test accuracy results were compared to the reference swab tested in a research laboratory for influenza A/B using a molecular assay. Results Analysis included 739 participants, 80% were 25–64 years of age, 79% female, and 73% white. Influenza positivity was 5.9% based on the laboratory reference test. Of those who started their test, 92% reported a self-test result. The sensitivity and specificity of participants’ interpretation of the test result compared to the laboratory reference standard were 14% (95%CI 5–28%) and 90% (95%CI 87–92%), respectively. Conclusions A mobile app facilitated study procedures to determine the accuracy of a home based test for influenza, however, test sensitivity was low. Recruiting individuals outside clinical settings who self-report ILI symptoms may lead to lower rates of influenza and/or less severe disease. Earlier identification of study subjects within 48 h of symptom onset through inclusion criteria and rapid shipping of tests or pre-positioning tests is needed to allow self-testing earlier in the course of illness, when viral load is higher. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12879-021-06314-1.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Ivan Rahmatullah
- University of Washington, 4225 Roosevelt Way NE Ste 308, Seattle, WA, 98105-6099, USA
| | - Barry Lutz
- University of Washington, 4225 Roosevelt Way NE Ste 308, Seattle, WA, 98105-6099, USA
| | - Victoria Lyon
- University of Washington, 4225 Roosevelt Way NE Ste 308, Seattle, WA, 98105-6099, USA
| | - Shichu Huang
- University of Washington, 4225 Roosevelt Way NE Ste 308, Seattle, WA, 98105-6099, USA
| | - Enos Kline
- University of Washington, 4225 Roosevelt Way NE Ste 308, Seattle, WA, 98105-6099, USA
| | - Chelsey Graham
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | | | | | | | - Helen Y Chu
- University of Washington, 4225 Roosevelt Way NE Ste 308, Seattle, WA, 98105-6099, USA
| | | | | | - Matthew J Thompson
- University of Washington, 4225 Roosevelt Way NE Ste 308, Seattle, WA, 98105-6099, USA
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BOCCALINI SARA, PARIANI ELENA, CALABRÒ GIOVANNAELISA, DE WAURE CHIARA, PANATTO DONATELLA, AMICIZIA DANIELA, LAI PIEROLUIGI, RIZZO CATERINA, AMODIO EMANUELE, VITALE FRANCESCO, CASUCCIO ALESSANDRA, DI PIETRO MARIALUISA, GALLI CRISTINA, BUBBA LAURA, PELLEGRINELLI LAURA, VILLANI LEONARDO, D’AMBROSIO FLORIANA, CAMINITI MARTA, LORENZINI ELISA, FIORETTI PAOLA, MICALE ROSANNATINDARA, FRUMENTO DAVIDE, CANTOVA ELISA, PARENTE FLAVIO, TRENTO GIACOMO, SOTTILE SARA, PUGLIESE ANDREA, BIAMONTE MASSIMILIANOALBERTO, GIORGETTI DUCCIO, MENICACCI MARCO, D’ANNA ANTONIO, AMMOSCATO CLAUDIA, LA GATTA EMANUELE, BECHINI ANGELA, BONANNI PAOLO. [Health Technology Assessment (HTA) of the introduction of influenza vaccination for Italian children with Fluenz Tetra ®]. JOURNAL OF PREVENTIVE MEDICINE AND HYGIENE 2021; 62:E1-E118. [PMID: 34909481 PMCID: PMC8639053 DOI: 10.15167/2421-4248/jpmh2021.62.2s1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- SARA BOCCALINI
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Salute, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Firenze, Italia
- Autore corrispondente: Sara Boccalini, Dipartimento di Scienze della Salute, Università degli Studi di Firenze, 50134 Firenze, Italia - Tel.: 055-2751084 - E-mail:
| | - ELENA PARIANI
- Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche per la Salute, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italia
- Centro Interuniversitario per la Ricerca sull'Influenza e le altre Infezioni Trasmissibili CIRI-IT, Italia
| | - GIOVANNA ELISA CALABRÒ
- Sezione di Igiene, Dipartimento Universitario di Scienze della Vita e Sanità Pubblica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, Italia
- VIHTALI (Value In Health Technology and Academy for Leadership & Innovation), spin off dell’Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, Italia
| | - CHIARA DE WAURE
- Dipartimento di Medicina e Chirurgia, Università degli Studi di Perugia, Perugia, Italia
| | - DONATELLA PANATTO
- Centro Interuniversitario per la Ricerca sull'Influenza e le altre Infezioni Trasmissibili CIRI-IT, Italia
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Salute, Università degli Studi di Genova, Genova, Italia
| | - DANIELA AMICIZIA
- Centro Interuniversitario per la Ricerca sull'Influenza e le altre Infezioni Trasmissibili CIRI-IT, Italia
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Salute, Università degli Studi di Genova, Genova, Italia
| | - PIERO LUIGI LAI
- Centro Interuniversitario per la Ricerca sull'Influenza e le altre Infezioni Trasmissibili CIRI-IT, Italia
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Salute, Università degli Studi di Genova, Genova, Italia
| | - CATERINA RIZZO
- Area Funzionale Percorsi Clinici ed Epidemiologia, Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù, IRCCS, Roma, Italia
| | - EMANUELE AMODIO
- Dipartimento Promozione della Salute, Materno-Infantile, di Medicina Interna e Specialistica di Eccellenza “G. D'Alessandro”, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Palermo, Italia
| | - FRANCESCO VITALE
- Dipartimento Promozione della Salute, Materno-Infantile, di Medicina Interna e Specialistica di Eccellenza “G. D'Alessandro”, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Palermo, Italia
| | - ALESSANDRA CASUCCIO
- Dipartimento Promozione della Salute, Materno-Infantile, di Medicina Interna e Specialistica di Eccellenza “G. D'Alessandro”, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Palermo, Italia
| | - MARIA LUISA DI PIETRO
- Sezione di Igiene, Dipartimento Universitario di Scienze della Vita e Sanità Pubblica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, Italia
| | - CRISTINA GALLI
- Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche per la Salute, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italia
| | - LAURA BUBBA
- Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche per la Salute, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italia
| | - LAURA PELLEGRINELLI
- Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche per la Salute, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italia
| | - LEONARDO VILLANI
- Sezione di Igiene, Dipartimento Universitario di Scienze della Vita e Sanità Pubblica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, Italia
| | - FLORIANA D’AMBROSIO
- Sezione di Igiene, Dipartimento Universitario di Scienze della Vita e Sanità Pubblica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, Italia
| | - MARTA CAMINITI
- Dipartimento di Medicina e Chirurgia, Università degli Studi di Perugia, Perugia, Italia
| | - ELISA LORENZINI
- Dipartimento di Medicina e Chirurgia, Università degli Studi di Perugia, Perugia, Italia
| | - PAOLA FIORETTI
- Dipartimento di Medicina e Chirurgia, Università degli Studi di Perugia, Perugia, Italia
| | | | - DAVIDE FRUMENTO
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Salute, Università degli Studi di Genova, Genova, Italia
| | - ELISA CANTOVA
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Salute, Università degli Studi di Genova, Genova, Italia
| | - FLAVIO PARENTE
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Salute, Università degli Studi di Genova, Genova, Italia
| | - GIACOMO TRENTO
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Salute, Università degli Studi di Genova, Genova, Italia
| | - SARA SOTTILE
- Università degli Studi di Trento, Trento, Italia
| | | | | | - DUCCIO GIORGETTI
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Salute, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Firenze, Italia
| | - MARCO MENICACCI
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Salute, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Firenze, Italia
| | - ANTONIO D’ANNA
- Dipartimento Promozione della Salute, Materno-Infantile, di Medicina Interna e Specialistica di Eccellenza “G. D'Alessandro”, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Palermo, Italia
| | - CLAUDIA AMMOSCATO
- Dipartimento Promozione della Salute, Materno-Infantile, di Medicina Interna e Specialistica di Eccellenza “G. D'Alessandro”, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Palermo, Italia
| | - EMANUELE LA GATTA
- Sezione di Igiene, Dipartimento Universitario di Scienze della Vita e Sanità Pubblica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma, Italia
| | - ANGELA BECHINI
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Salute, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Firenze, Italia
| | - PAOLO BONANNI
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Salute, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Firenze, Italia
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Runkle JD, Sugg MM, Graham G, Hodge B, March T, Mullendore J, Tove F, Salyers M, Valeika S, Vaughan E. Participatory COVID-19 Surveillance Tool in Rural Appalachia : Real-Time Disease Monitoring and Regional Response. Public Health Rep 2021; 136:327-337. [PMID: 33601984 PMCID: PMC8580398 DOI: 10.1177/0033354921990372] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/06/2021] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Few US studies have examined the usefulness of participatory surveillance during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic for enhancing local health response efforts, particularly in rural settings. We report on the development and implementation of an internet-based COVID-19 participatory surveillance tool in rural Appalachia. METHODS A regional collaboration among public health partners culminated in the design and implementation of the COVID-19 Self-Checker, a local online symptom tracker. The tool collected data on participant demographic characteristics and health history. County residents were then invited to take part in an automated daily electronic follow-up to monitor symptom progression, assess barriers to care and testing, and collect data on COVID-19 test results and symptom resolution. RESULTS Nearly 6500 county residents visited and 1755 residents completed the COVID-19 Self-Checker from April 30 through June 9, 2020. Of the 579 residents who reported severe or mild COVID-19 symptoms, COVID-19 symptoms were primarily reported among women (n = 408, 70.5%), adults with preexisting health conditions (n = 246, 70.5%), adults aged 18-44 (n = 301, 52.0%), and users who reported not having a health care provider (n = 131, 22.6%). Initial findings showed underrepresentation of some racial/ethnic and non-English-speaking groups. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS This low-cost internet-based platform provided a flexible means to collect participatory surveillance data on local changes in COVID-19 symptoms and adapt to guidance. Data from this tool can be used to monitor the efficacy of public health response measures at the local level in rural Appalachia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer D. Runkle
- North Carolina Institute for Climate Studies, North Carolina State University, Asheville, NC, USA
| | - Maggie M. Sugg
- Department of Geography and Planning, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC, USA
| | - Garrett Graham
- North Carolina Institute for Climate Studies, North Carolina State University, Asheville, NC, USA
| | - Bryan Hodge
- Mountain Area Health Education, Asheville, NC, USA
| | - Terri March
- Hendersonville Family Medicine Residency, Mountain Area Health Education, Asheville, NC, USA
| | | | - Fletcher Tove
- Buncombe County Health and Human Services, Asheville, NC, USA
| | - Martha Salyers
- Public Health and Human Services Division, Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians, Cherokee, NC, USA
| | - Steve Valeika
- Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Ellis Vaughan
- Buncombe County Health and Human Services, Asheville, NC, USA
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20
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Gozzi N, Perrotta D, Paolotti D, Perra N. Towards a data-driven characterization of behavioral changes induced by the seasonal flu. PLoS Comput Biol 2020; 16:e1007879. [PMID: 32401809 PMCID: PMC7250468 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1007879] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2020] [Revised: 05/26/2020] [Accepted: 04/15/2020] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
In this work, we aim to determine the main factors driving self-initiated behavioral changes during the seasonal flu. To this end, we designed and deployed a questionnaire via Influweb, a Web platform for participatory surveillance in Italy, during the 2017 - 18 and 2018 - 19 seasons. We collected 599 surveys completed by 434 users. The data provide socio-demographic information, level of concerns about the flu, past experience with illnesses, and the type of behavioral changes voluntarily implemented by each participant. We describe each response with a set of features and divide them in three target categories. These describe those that report i) no (26%), ii) only moderately (36%), iii) significant (38%) changes in behaviors. In these settings, we adopt machine learning algorithms to investigate the extent to which target variables can be predicted by looking only at the set of features. Notably, 66% of the samples in the category describing more significant changes in behaviors are correctly classified through Gradient Boosted Trees. Furthermore, we investigate the importance of each feature in the classification task and uncover complex relationships between individuals' characteristics and their attitude towards behavioral change. We find that intensity, recency of past illnesses, perceived susceptibility to and perceived severity of an infection are the most significant features in the classification task and are associated to significant changes in behaviors. Overall, the research contributes to the small set of empirical studies devoted to the data-driven characterization of behavioral changes induced by infectious diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicolò Gozzi
- Networks and Urban Systems Centre, University of Greenwich, London, United Kingdom
| | | | | | - Nicola Perra
- Networks and Urban Systems Centre, University of Greenwich, London, United Kingdom
- ISI Foundation, Turin, Italy
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21
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Leal Neto O, Cruz O, Albuquerque J, Nacarato de Sousa M, Smolinski M, Pessoa Cesse EÂ, Libel M, Vieira de Souza W. Participatory Surveillance Based on Crowdsourcing During the Rio 2016 Olympic Games Using the Guardians of Health Platform: Descriptive Study. JMIR Public Health Surveill 2020; 6:e16119. [PMID: 32254042 PMCID: PMC7175192 DOI: 10.2196/16119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2019] [Revised: 12/06/2019] [Accepted: 01/27/2020] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
Background With the evolution of digital media, areas such as public health are adding new platforms to complement traditional systems of epidemiological surveillance. Participatory surveillance and digital epidemiology have become innovative tools for the construction of epidemiological landscapes with citizens’ participation, improving traditional sources of information. Strategies such as these promote the timely detection of warning signs for outbreaks and epidemics in the region. Objective This study aims to describe the participatory surveillance platform Guardians of Health, which was used in a project conducted during the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and officially used by the Brazilian Ministry of Health for the monitoring of outbreaks and epidemics. Methods This is a descriptive study carried out using secondary data from Guardians of Health available in a public digital repository. Based on syndromic signals, the information subsidy for decision making by policy makers and health managers becomes more dynamic and assertive. This type of information source can be used as an early route to understand the epidemiological scenario. Results The main result of this research was demonstrating the use of the participatory surveillance platform as an additional source of information for the epidemiological surveillance performed in Brazil during a mass gathering. The platform Guardians of Health had 7848 users who generated 12,746 reports about their health status. Among these reports, the following were identified: 161 users with diarrheal syndrome, 68 users with respiratory syndrome, and 145 users with rash syndrome. Conclusions It is hoped that epidemiological surveillance professionals, researchers, managers, and workers become aware of, and allow themselves to use, new tools that improve information management for decision making and knowledge production. This way, we may follow the path for a more intelligent, efficient, and pragmatic disease control system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Onicio Leal Neto
- University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.,Epitrack, Recife, Brazil
| | - Oswaldo Cruz
- Scientific Computation Program, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Jones Albuquerque
- Epitrack, Recife, Brazil.,Immunopathology Lab Keizo Asami, Recife, Brazil
| | | | | | | | - Marlo Libel
- Ending Pandemics, San Francisco, CA, United States
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Kissler SM, Viboud C, Grenfell BT, Gog JR. Symbolic transfer entropy reveals the age structure of pandemic influenza transmission from high-volume influenza-like illness data. J R Soc Interface 2020; 17:20190628. [PMID: 32183640 PMCID: PMC7115222 DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2019.0628] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Existing methods to infer the relative roles of age groups in epidemic transmission can normally only accommodate a few age classes, and/or require data that are highly specific for the disease being studied. Here, symbolic transfer entropy (STE), a measure developed to identify asymmetric transfer of information between stochastic processes, is presented as a way to reveal asymmetric transmission patterns between age groups in an epidemic. STE provides a ranking of which age groups may dominate transmission, rather than a reconstruction of the explicit between-age-group transmission matrix. Using simulations, we establish that STE can identify which age groups dominate transmission even when there are differences in reporting rates between age groups and even if the data are noisy. Then, the pairwise STE is calculated between time series of influenza-like illness for 12 age groups in 884 US cities during the autumn of 2009. Elevated STE from 5 to 19 year-olds indicates that school-aged children were likely the most important transmitters of infection during the autumn wave of the 2009 pandemic in the USA. The results may be partially confounded by higher rates of physician-seeking behaviour in children compared to adults, but it is unlikely that differences in reporting rates can explain the observed differences in STE.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen M Kissler
- Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge, Wilberforce Road, Cambridge, UK.,Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Cécile Viboud
- Fogarty International Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MA, USA
| | - Bryan T Grenfell
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Princeton, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Julia R Gog
- Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge, Wilberforce Road, Cambridge, UK
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Samaras L, García-Barriocanal E, Sicilia MA. Syndromic surveillance using web data: a systematic review. INNOVATION IN HEALTH INFORMATICS 2020. [PMCID: PMC7153324 DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-12-819043-2.00002-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
During the recent years, a lot of debate is taken place about the evolution of Smart Healthcare systems. Particularly, how these systems can help people improve human conditions of health, by taking advantages of the new Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), regarding early prediction and efficient treatment. The purpose of this study is to provide a systematic review of the current literature available that focuses on information systems on syndromic surveillance using web data. All published items concern articles, books, reviews, reports, conference announcements, and dissertations. We used a variation of PRISMA Statements methodology to conduct a systematic review. The review identifies the relevant published papers from the year 2004 to 2018, systematically includes and explores them to extract similarities, gaps, and conclusions on the research that has been done so far. The results presented concern the year, the examined disease, the web data source, the geographic location/country, and the data analysis method used. The results show that influenza is the most examined infectious disease. The internet tools most used are Twitter and Google. Regarding the geographical areas explored in the published papers, the most examined country is the United States, since many scientists come from this country. There is a significant growth of articles since 2009. There are also various statistical methods used to correlate the data retrieved from the internet to the data from national authorities. The conclusion of all researches is that the Web can be a useful tool for the detection of serious epidemics and for a creation of a syndromic surveillance system using the Web, since we can predict epidemics from web data before they are officially detected in population. With the advance of ICT, Smart Healthcare can benefit from the monitoring of epidemics and the early prediction of such a system, improving national or international health strategies and policy decision. This can be achieved through the provision of new technology tools to enhance health monitoring systems toward the new innovations of Smart Health or eHealth, even with the emerging technologies of Internet of Things. The challenges and impacts of an electronic system based on internet data include the social, medical, and technological disciplines. These can be further extended to Smart Healthcare, as the data streaming can provide with real-time information, awareness on epidemics and alerts for both patients or medical scientists. Finally, these new systems can help improve the standards of human life.
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Rosano A, Bella A, Gesualdo F, Acampora A, Pezzotti P, Marchetti S, Ricciardi W, Rizzo C. Investigating the impact of influenza on excess mortality in all ages in Italy during recent seasons (2013/14–2016/17 seasons). Int J Infect Dis 2019; 88:127-134. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ijid.2019.08.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2019] [Revised: 07/31/2019] [Accepted: 08/03/2019] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
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Torner N, Basile L, Martínez A, Rius C, Godoy P, Jané M, Domínguez Á. Assessment of two complementary influenza surveillance systems: sentinel primary care influenza-like illness versus severe hospitalized laboratory-confirmed influenza using the moving epidemic method. BMC Public Health 2019; 19:1089. [PMID: 31409397 PMCID: PMC6691547 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-019-7414-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2018] [Accepted: 07/31/2019] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Monitoring seasonal influenza epidemics is the corner stone to epidemiological surveillance of acute respiratory virus infections worldwide. This work aims to compare two sentinel surveillance systems within the Daily Acute Respiratory Infection Information System of Catalonia (PIDIRAC), the primary care ILI and Influenza confirmed samples from primary care (PIDIRAC-ILI and PIDIRAC-FLU) and the severe hospitalized laboratory confirmed influenza system (SHLCI), in regard to how they behave in the forecasting of epidemic onset and severity allowing for healthcare preparedness. METHODS Epidemiological study carried out during seven influenza seasons (2010-2017) in Catalonia, with data from influenza sentinel surveillance of primary care physicians reporting ILI along with laboratory confirmation of influenza from systematic sampling of ILI cases and 12 hospitals that provided data on severe hospitalized cases with laboratory-confirmed influenza (SHLCI-FLU). Epidemic thresholds for ILI and SHLCI-FLU (overall) as well as influenza A (SHLCI-FLUA) and influenza B (SHLCI-FLUB) incidence rates were assessed by the Moving Epidemics Method. RESULTS Epidemic thresholds for primary care sentinel surveillance influenza-like illness (PIDIRAC-ILI) incidence rates ranged from 83.65 to 503.92 per 100.000 h. Paired incidence rate curves for SHLCI -FLU / PIDIRAC-ILI and SHLCI-FLUA/ PIDIRAC-FLUA showed best correlation index' (0.805 and 0.724 respectively). Assessing delay in reaching epidemic level, PIDIRAC-ILI source forecasts an average of 1.6 weeks before the rest of sources paired. Differences are higher when SHLCI cases are paired to PIDIRAC-ILI and PIDIRAC-FLUB although statistical significance was observed only for SHLCI-FLU/PIDIRAC-ILI (p-value Wilcoxon test = 0.039). CONCLUSIONS The combined ILI and confirmed influenza from primary care along with the severe hospitalized laboratory confirmed influenza data from PIDIRAC sentinel surveillance system provides timely and accurate syndromic and virological surveillance of influenza from the community level to hospitalization of severe cases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Núria Torner
- Department of Health, Public Health Agency of Catalonia, Generalitat of Catalonia, Salvany Building, Roc Boronat 81-95, 08005, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. .,CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP) Institute Carlos III, Madrid, Spain. .,Medicine Department, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Luca Basile
- Department of Health, Public Health Agency of Catalonia, Generalitat of Catalonia, Salvany Building, Roc Boronat 81-95, 08005, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Ana Martínez
- Department of Health, Public Health Agency of Catalonia, Generalitat of Catalonia, Salvany Building, Roc Boronat 81-95, 08005, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.,CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP) Institute Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
| | - Cristina Rius
- CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP) Institute Carlos III, Madrid, Spain.,Public Health Agency of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Pere Godoy
- Department of Health, Public Health Agency of Catalonia, Generalitat of Catalonia, Salvany Building, Roc Boronat 81-95, 08005, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.,CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP) Institute Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
| | - Mireia Jané
- Department of Health, Public Health Agency of Catalonia, Generalitat of Catalonia, Salvany Building, Roc Boronat 81-95, 08005, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.,CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP) Institute Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
| | - Ángela Domínguez
- CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP) Institute Carlos III, Madrid, Spain.,Medicine Department, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
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Geneviève LD, Martani A, Wangmo T, Paolotti D, Koppeschaar C, Kjelsø C, Guerrisi C, Hirsch M, Woolley-Meza O, Lukowicz P, Flahault A, Elger BS. Participatory Disease Surveillance Systems: Ethical Framework. J Med Internet Res 2019; 21:e12273. [PMID: 31124466 PMCID: PMC6660191 DOI: 10.2196/12273] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2018] [Revised: 03/08/2019] [Accepted: 03/29/2019] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Advances in information technology are changing public health at an unprecedented rate. Participatory surveillance systems are contributing to public health by actively engaging digital (eg, Web-based) communities of volunteer citizens to report symptoms and other pertinent information on public health threats and also by empowering individuals to promptly respond to them. However, this digital model raises ethical issues on top of those inherent in traditional forms of public health surveillance. Research ethics are undergoing significant changes in the digital era where not only participants' physical and psychological well-being but also the protection of their sensitive data have to be considered. In this paper, the digital platform of Influenzanet is used as a case study to illustrate those ethical challenges posed to participatory surveillance systems using digital platforms and mobile apps. These ethical challenges include the implementation of electronic consent, the protection of participants' privacy, the promotion of justice, and the need for interdisciplinary capacity building of research ethics committees. On the basis of our analysis, we propose a framework to regulate and strengthen ethical approaches in the field of digital public health surveillance.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Andrea Martani
- Institute for Biomedical Ethics, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Tenzin Wangmo
- Institute for Biomedical Ethics, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | | | - Carl Koppeschaar
- De Grote Griepmeting, Science in Action BV, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | | | - Caroline Guerrisi
- Sorbonne Université, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Institut Pierre Louis d'Épidémiologie et de Santé Publique, Paris, France
| | - Marco Hirsch
- German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), Kaiserslautern, Germany
| | - Olivia Woolley-Meza
- ETH Zurich, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland
- Novartis Pharma AG, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Paul Lukowicz
- German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), Kaiserslautern, Germany
| | - Antoine Flahault
- Institute of Global Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Bernice Simone Elger
- Institute for Biomedical Ethics, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
- University Center of Legal Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
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Bertoldo G, Pesce A, Pepe A, Pelullo CP, Di Giuseppe G. Seasonal influenza: Knowledge, attitude and vaccine uptake among adults with chronic conditions in Italy. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0215978. [PMID: 31042752 PMCID: PMC6493755 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0215978] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2018] [Accepted: 04/11/2019] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
This cross-sectional study aimed at evaluating the knowledge and attitudes concerning influenza vaccination in Southern Italy, and investigating the potential determinants of vaccine uptake. The sample consisted of 700 adults (mean age 58.7y) with chronic diseases attending four public specialty clinics in Italy. Overall, 64.7% of the participants were aware that influenza can be prevented with vaccines and that patients with chronic diseases are at higher risk of developing severe complications. Less than half of the sample (42.1%) received influenza vaccine in the last season, and 46.9% declared the will to receive influenza vaccination in the next season. The level of awareness was significantly lower among the elderly (> = 65y) and those with a higher self-reported health. A significantly higher likelihood of vaccination was observed among the elderly, the subjects with a higher knowledge about vaccine utility and safety, the participants with chronic respiratory diseases, and those who had taken more drugs. Future education programs and communication strategies are strongly needed in adults with chronic diseases to improve influenza vaccination knowledge and uptake.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gaia Bertoldo
- Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Naples (Italy)
| | - Annalisa Pesce
- Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Naples (Italy)
| | - Angela Pepe
- Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Naples (Italy)
| | - Concetta Paola Pelullo
- Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Naples (Italy)
| | - Gabriella Di Giuseppe
- Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Naples (Italy)
- * E-mail:
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Kalimeri K, Delfino M, Cattuto C, Perrotta D, Colizza V, Guerrisi C, Turbelin C, Duggan J, Edmunds J, Obi C, Pebody R, Franco AO, Moreno Y, Meloni S, Koppeschaar C, Kjelsø C, Mexia R, Paolotti D. Unsupervised extraction of epidemic syndromes from participatory influenza surveillance self-reported symptoms. PLoS Comput Biol 2019; 15:e1006173. [PMID: 30958817 PMCID: PMC6472822 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1006173] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2018] [Revised: 04/18/2019] [Accepted: 03/01/2019] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Seasonal influenza surveillance is usually carried out by sentinel general practitioners (GPs) who compile weekly reports based on the number of influenza-like illness (ILI) clinical cases observed among visited patients. This traditional practice for surveillance generally presents several issues, such as a delay of one week or more in releasing reports, population biases in the health-seeking behaviour, and the lack of a common definition of ILI case. On the other hand, the availability of novel data streams has recently led to the emergence of non-traditional approaches for disease surveillance that can alleviate these issues. In Europe, a participatory web-based surveillance system called Influenzanet represents a powerful tool for monitoring seasonal influenza epidemics thanks to aid of self-selected volunteers from the general population who monitor and report their health status through Internet-based surveys, thus allowing a real-time estimate of the level of influenza circulating in the population. In this work, we propose an unsupervised probabilistic framework that combines time series analysis of self-reported symptoms collected by the Influenzanet platforms and performs an algorithmic detection of groups of symptoms, called syndromes. The aim of this study is to show that participatory web-based surveillance systems are capable of detecting the temporal trends of influenza-like illness even without relying on a specific case definition. The methodology was applied to data collected by Influenzanet platforms over the course of six influenza seasons, from 2011-2012 to 2016-2017, with an average of 34,000 participants per season. Results show that our framework is capable of selecting temporal trends of syndromes that closely follow the ILI incidence rates reported by the traditional surveillance systems in the various countries (Pearson correlations ranging from 0.69 for Italy to 0.88 for the Netherlands, with the sole exception of Ireland with a correlation of 0.38). The proposed framework was able to forecast quite accurately the ILI trend of the forthcoming influenza season (2016-2017) based only on the available information of the previous years (2011-2016). Furthermore, to broaden the scope of our approach, we applied it both in a forecasting fashion to predict the ILI trend of the 2016-2017 influenza season (Pearson correlations ranging from 0.60 for Ireland and UK, and 0.85 for the Netherlands) and also to detect gastrointestinal syndrome in France (Pearson correlation of 0.66). The final result is a near-real-time flexible surveillance framework not constrained by any specific case definition and capable of capturing the heterogeneity in symptoms circulation during influenza epidemics in the various European countries.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Vittoria Colizza
- INSERM, Sorbonne Université, Institut Pierre Louis d’Epidémiologie et de Santé Publique, IPLESP, Paris, France
| | - Caroline Guerrisi
- Sorbonne Université, INSERM, Institut Pierre Louis d’Epidémiologie et de Santé Publique, IPLESP, Paris, France
| | - Clement Turbelin
- Sorbonne Université, INSERM, Institut Pierre Louis d’Epidémiologie et de Santé Publique, IPLESP, Paris, France
| | - Jim Duggan
- School of Computer Science, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland
| | - John Edmunds
- Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
| | - Chinelo Obi
- Immunisation and Countermeasures Division, National Infections Service, Public Health England, London, United Kingdom
| | - Richard Pebody
- Immunisation and Countermeasures Division, National Infections Service, Public Health England, London, United Kingdom
| | | | - Yamir Moreno
- ISI Foundation, Turin, Italy
- Institute for Biocomputation and Physics of Complex Systems (BIFI), University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain
- Department of Theoretical Physics, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain
| | - Sandro Meloni
- IFISC, Institute for Cross-Disciplinary Physics and Complex Systems (CSIC-UIB), Palma de Mallorca, Spain
| | | | | | - Ricardo Mexia
- Departamento de Epidemiologia, Instituto Nacional de Saúde Doutor Ricardo Jorge, Lisbon, Portugal
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Geneviève LD, Wangmo T, Dietrich D, Woolley-Meza O, Flahault A, Elger BS. Research Ethics in the European Influenzanet Consortium: Scoping Review. JMIR Public Health Surveill 2018; 4:e67. [PMID: 30305258 PMCID: PMC6231872 DOI: 10.2196/publichealth.9616] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2017] [Revised: 06/04/2018] [Accepted: 06/28/2018] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Influenzanet was launched in several European countries to monitor influenza-like illness during flu seasons with the help of volunteering participants and Web-based technologies. As in the case of developing fields, ethical approaches are not well developed in the collection, processing, and analysis of participants’ information. Existing controversies and varying national ethical regulations can, thus, hamper efficient cross-border research collaboration to the detriment of quality disease surveillance. Objective This scoping review characterizes current practices on how ethical, legal, and social issues (ELSIs) pertinent to research ethics are handled by different Influenzanet country groups to analyze similarities and identify the need for further harmonization of ethical approaches. Methods A literature search was carried out on PubMed, Web of Science, Global Digital Library on Ethics, and Bioethics Literature Database to identify ELSIs for Influenzanet country platforms. Only English-language papers were included with publication dates from 2003 to 2017. Publications were screened for the application of bioethics principles in the implementation of country platforms. Additional publications gathered from the Influenzanet Consortium website, reference screening, and conference proceeding were screened for ELSIs. Results We gathered 96 papers from our search methodology. In total, 28 papers that mentioned ELSIs were identified and included in this study. The Research Ethics Committee (REC) approvals were sought for recruiting participants and collecting their data in 8 of 11 country platforms and informed e-consent was sought from participants in 9 of 11 country platforms. Furthermore, personal data protection was ensured throughout the Consortium using data anonymization before processing and analysis and using aggregated data. Conclusions Epidemics forecasting activities, such as Influenzanet, are beneficial; however, its benefits could be further increased through the harmonization of data gathering and ethical requirements. This objective is achievable by the Consortium. More transparency should be promoted concerning REC-approved research for Influenzanet-like systems. The validity of informed e-consent could also be increased through the provision of a user friendly and standard information sheet across the Consortium where participants agree to its terms, conditions, and privacy policies before being able to fill in the questionnaire. This will help to build trust in the general public while preventing any decline in participation.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Tenzin Wangmo
- Institute for Biomedical Ethics, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Damien Dietrich
- Department of Radiology and Medical Informatics, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland.,Institute of Global Health, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | | | - Antoine Flahault
- Institute of Global Health, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Bernice Simone Elger
- Institute for Biomedical Ethics, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.,University Center of Legal Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
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Capri S, Barbieri M, de Waure C, Boccalini S, Panatto D. Cost-effectiveness analysis of different seasonal influenza vaccines in the elderly Italian population. Hum Vaccin Immunother 2018; 14:1331-1341. [PMID: 29425079 PMCID: PMC6037461 DOI: 10.1080/21645515.2018.1438792] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
In the perspective of reaching at least 75% influenza vaccination coverage in the elderly and substantial budget constraints, Italian decision makers are facing important challenges in determining an optimal immunization strategy for this growing and particularly vulnerable population. Four different influenza vaccines are currently available for Italian older adults aged 65 years or above, namely trivalent inactivated vaccines (TIVs), MF59-adjuvanted TIV (MF59-TIV), intradermal TIV (ID-TIV) and quadrivalent inactivated vaccines (QIVs). The present study is the first to compare the cost-effectiveness profiles of virtually all possible public health strategies, including the aforementioned four vaccine formulations as well non-vaccination. For this purpose, a decision tree model was built ex novo; the analysis was conducted from the third-payer perspective in the timeframe of one year. All available vaccines were cost-effective compared with non-vaccination. However, MF59-TIV had the most favorable economic profile in the Italian elderly population. Indeed, compared with non-vaccination, it was deemed highly cost-effective with an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of €10,750 per quality-adjusted life year (QALY). The ICER was much lower (€4,527/QALY) when MF59-TIV was directly compared with TIV. ID-TIV and QIV were dominated by MF59-TIV as the former comparators were associated with greater total costs and lower health benefits. Both deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analyses confirmed robustness of the base case results. From the economic perspective, MF59-TIV should be considered as a preferential choice for Italian older adults aged 65 years or above.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefano Capri
- a School of Economics and Management , Cattaneo University-LIUC , Castellanza , Italy
| | - Marco Barbieri
- b Centre for Health Economics , University of York , York , UK
| | - Chiara de Waure
- c Institute of Public Health, Section of Hygiene , Catholic University of the Sacred Heart , Rome , Italy
| | - Sara Boccalini
- d Department of Health Sciences , University of Florence , Florence , Italy
| | - Donatella Panatto
- e Department of Health Sciences , University of Genoa , Genoa , Italy.,f Inter-University Centre for Research on Influenza and Other Transmitted Diseases (CIRI-IT) , Genoa , Italy
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BARBIERI M, CAPRI S, WAURE CDE, BOCCALINI S, PANATTO D. Age- and risk-related appropriateness of the use of available influenza vaccines in the Italian elderly population is advantageous: results from a budget impact analysis. JOURNAL OF PREVENTIVE MEDICINE AND HYGIENE 2017; 58:E279-E287. [PMID: 29707658 PMCID: PMC5912787 DOI: 10.15167/2421-4248/jpmh2017.58.4.867] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2017] [Accepted: 11/27/2017] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Nowadays, four different types of influenza vaccines are available in Italy: trivalent (TIV), quadrivalent (QIV), MF59-adjuvanted (aTIV) and intradermal TIV (idTIV) inactivated vaccines. Recently, a concept of the appropriateness (i.e. according to the age and risk factors) of the use of different vaccines has been established in Italy. We conducted a budget impact analysis of switching to a policy, in which the Italian elderly (who carry the major disease burden) received the available vaccines according to their age and risk profile. METHODS A novel budget impact model was constructed with a time horizon of one influenza season. In the reference scenario the cohort of Italian elderly individuals could receive either available vaccine according to 2017/18 season market share. The alternative scenario envisaged the administration of TIV/QIV to people aged 65-74 years and at low risk of developing influenza-related complications, while aTIV/idTIV were allocated to high-risk 65-74-year-olds and all subjects aged ≥ 75 years. RESULTS Switching to the alternative scenario would result in both significant health benefits and net budget savings. Particularly, it would be possible to prevent an additional 8201 cases of laboratory-confirmed influenza, 988 complications, 355 hospitalizations and 14 deaths. Despite the alternative strategy being associated with slightly higher vaccination costs, the total savings derived from fewer influenza events completely resets this increase with net budget savings of € 0.13 million. CONCLUSIONS An immunization policy in which influenza vaccines are administered according to the age and risk profile of Italian elderly individuals is advisable.
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Affiliation(s)
- M. BARBIERI
- Centre for Health Economics, University of York, York, UK
| | - S. CAPRI
- School of Economics and Management, Cattaneo University-LIUC, Castellanza, Italy
| | - C. DE WAURE
- Institute of Public Health, Section of Hygiene, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy
| | - S. BOCCALINI
- Department of Health Sciences, University of Florence, Italy
| | - D. PANATTO
- Department of Health Sciences, University of Genoa, Italy
- Inter-University Centre for Research on Influenza and Other Transmitted Diseases (CIRI-IT), Genoa, Italy
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