Enhancing disease surveillance with novel data streams: challenges and opportunities

Benjamin M. Althouse; Samuel V. Scarpino; Lauren Ancel Meyers; John W. Ayers; Marisa Bargsten; Joan Baumbach; John S. Brownstein; Lauren Castro; Hannah Clapham; Derek A.T. Cummings; Sara Del Valle; Stephen Eubank; Geoffrey Fairchild; Lyn Finelli; Nicholas Generous; Dylan George; David R. Harper; Laurent Hébert-Dufresne; Michael A. Johansson; Kevin Konty; Marc Lipsitch; Gabriel Milinovich; Joseph D. Miller; Elaine O. Nsoesie; Donald R. Olson; Michael Paul; Philip M. Polgreen; Reid Priedhorsky; Jonathan M. Read; Isabel Rodríguez-Barraquer; Derek J. Smith; Christian Stefansen; David L. Swerdlow; Deborah Thompson; Alessandro Vespignani; Amy Wesolowski

doi:10.1140/epjds/s13688-015-0054-0

Enhancing disease surveillance with novel data streams: challenges and opportunities

Benjamin M. Althouse, Samuel V. Scarpino, Lauren Ancel Meyers, John W. Ayers, Marisa Bargsten, Joan Baumbach, John S. Brownstein, Lauren Castro, Hannah Clapham, Derek A.T. Cummings, Sara Del Valle, Stephen Eubank, Geoffrey Fairchild, Lyn Finelli, Nicholas Generous, Dylan George, David R. Harper, Laurent Hébert-Dufresne, Michael A. Johansson, Kevin KontyMarc Lipsitch, Gabriel Milinovich, Joseph D. Miller, Elaine O. Nsoesie, Donald R. Olson, Michael Paul, Philip M. Polgreen, Reid Priedhorsky, Jonathan M. Read, Isabel Rodríguez-Barraquer, Derek J. Smith, Christian Stefansen, David L. Swerdlow, Deborah Thompson, Alessandro Vespignani, Amy Wesolowski

Bloomberg School of Public Health

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

72 Scopus citations

Abstract

Novel data streams (NDS), such as web search data or social media updates, hold promise for enhancing the capabilities of public health surveillance. In this paper, we outline a conceptual framework for integrating NDS into current public health surveillance. Our approach focuses on two key questions: What are the opportunities for using NDS and what are the minimal tests of validity and utility that must be applied when using NDS? Identifying these opportunities will necessitate the involvement of public health authorities and an appreciation of the diversity of objectives and scales across agencies at different levels (local, state, national, international). We present the case that clearly articulating surveillance objectives and systematically evaluating NDS and comparing the performance of NDS to existing surveillance data and alternative NDS data is critical and has not sufficiently been addressed in many applications of NDS currently in the literature.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	17
Pages (from-to)	1-8
Number of pages	8
Journal	EPJ Data Science
Volume	4
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1140/epjds/s13688-015-0054-0
State	Published - Dec 1 2015

Keywords

digital surveillance
disease surveillance
novel data streams

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Modeling and Simulation
Computer Science Applications
Computational Mathematics

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Althouse, B. M., Scarpino, S. V., Meyers, L. A., Ayers, J. W., Bargsten, M., Baumbach, J., Brownstein, J. S., Castro, L., Clapham, H., Cummings, D. A. T., Del Valle, S., Eubank, S., Fairchild, G., Finelli, L., Generous, N., George, D., Harper, D. R., Hébert-Dufresne, L., Johansson, M. A., ... Wesolowski, A. (2015). Enhancing disease surveillance with novel data streams: challenges and opportunities. EPJ Data Science, 4(1), 1-8. Article 17. https://doi.org/10.1140/epjds/s13688-015-0054-0

Althouse, BM, Scarpino, SV, Meyers, LA, Ayers, JW, Bargsten, M, Baumbach, J, Brownstein, JS, Castro, L, Clapham, H, Cummings, DAT, Del Valle, S, Eubank, S, Fairchild, G, Finelli, L, Generous, N, George, D, Harper, DR, Hébert-Dufresne, L, Johansson, MA, Konty, K, Lipsitch, M, Milinovich, G, Miller, JD, Nsoesie, EO, Olson, DR, Paul, M, Polgreen, PM, Priedhorsky, R, Read, JM, Rodríguez-Barraquer, I, Smith, DJ, Stefansen, C, Swerdlow, DL, Thompson, D, Vespignani, A & Wesolowski, A 2015, 'Enhancing disease surveillance with novel data streams: challenges and opportunities', EPJ Data Science, vol. 4, no. 1, 17, pp. 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1140/epjds/s13688-015-0054-0

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AU - Bargsten, Marisa

AU - Baumbach, Joan

AU - Brownstein, John S.

AU - Castro, Lauren

AU - Clapham, Hannah

AU - Cummings, Derek A.T.

AU - Del Valle, Sara

AU - Eubank, Stephen

AU - Fairchild, Geoffrey

AU - Finelli, Lyn

AU - Generous, Nicholas

AU - George, Dylan

AU - Harper, David R.

AU - Hébert-Dufresne, Laurent

AU - Johansson, Michael A.

AU - Konty, Kevin

AU - Lipsitch, Marc

AU - Milinovich, Gabriel

AU - Miller, Joseph D.

AU - Nsoesie, Elaine O.

AU - Olson, Donald R.

AU - Paul, Michael

AU - Polgreen, Philip M.

AU - Priedhorsky, Reid

AU - Read, Jonathan M.

AU - Rodríguez-Barraquer, Isabel

AU - Smith, Derek J.

AU - Stefansen, Christian

AU - Swerdlow, David L.

AU - Thompson, Deborah

AU - Vespignani, Alessandro

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Enhancing disease surveillance with novel data streams: challenges and opportunities

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ASJC Scopus subject areas

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