Harnessing Big Data for Communicable Tropical and Sub-Tropical Disorders: Implications From a Systematic Review of the Literature
AimAccording to the World Health Organization (WHO), communicable tropical and sub-tropical diseases occur solely, or mainly in the tropics, thriving in hot, and humid conditions. Some of these disorders termed as neglected tropical diseases are particularly overlooked. Communicable tropical/sub-tro...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2018-03-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Public Health |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpubh.2018.00090/full |
| _version_ | 1819152397129220096 |
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| author | Vincenza Gianfredi Nicola Luigi Bragazzi Daniele Nucci Mariano Martini Roberto Rosselli Liliana Minelli Massimo Moretti |
| author_facet | Vincenza Gianfredi Nicola Luigi Bragazzi Daniele Nucci Mariano Martini Roberto Rosselli Liliana Minelli Massimo Moretti |
| author_sort | Vincenza Gianfredi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | AimAccording to the World Health Organization (WHO), communicable tropical and sub-tropical diseases occur solely, or mainly in the tropics, thriving in hot, and humid conditions. Some of these disorders termed as neglected tropical diseases are particularly overlooked. Communicable tropical/sub-tropical diseases represent a diverse group of communicable disorders occurring in 149 countries, favored by tropical and sub-tropical conditions, affecting more than one billion people and imposing a dramatic societal and economic burden.MethodsA systematic review of the extant scholarly literature was carried out, searching in PubMed/MEDLINE and Scopus. The search string used included proper keywords, like big data, nontraditional data sources, social media, social networks, infodemiology, infoveillance, novel data streams (NDS), digital epidemiology, digital behavior, Google Trends, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, Ebola, Zika, dengue, Chikungunya, Chagas, and the other neglected tropical diseases.Results47 original, observational studies were included in the current systematic review: 1 focused on Chikungunya, 6 on dengue, 19 on Ebola, 2 on Malaria, 1 on Mayaro virus, 2 on West Nile virus, and 16 on Zika. Fifteen were dedicated on developing and validating forecasting techniques for real-time monitoring of neglected tropical diseases, while the remaining studies investigated public reaction to infectious outbreaks. Most studies explored a single nontraditional data source, with Twitter being the most exploited tool (25 studies).ConclusionEven though some studies have shown the feasibility of utilizing NDS as an effective tool for predicting epidemic outbreaks and disseminating accurate, high-quality information concerning neglected tropical diseases, some gaps should be properly underlined. Out of the 47 articles included, only 7 were focusing on neglected tropical diseases, while all the other covered communicable tropical/sub-tropical diseases, and the main determinant of this unbalanced coverage seems to be the media impact and resonance. Furthermore, efforts in integrating diverse NDS should be made. As such, taking into account these limitations, further research in the field is needed. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T14:48:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-5f3a86bbbddb4b15b527752132fdd2db |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-2565 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T14:48:38Z |
| publishDate | 2018-03-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Public Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-5f3a86bbbddb4b15b527752132fdd2db2022-12-21T18:22:22ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Public Health2296-25652018-03-01610.3389/fpubh.2018.00090339187Harnessing Big Data for Communicable Tropical and Sub-Tropical Disorders: Implications From a Systematic Review of the LiteratureVincenza Gianfredi0Nicola Luigi Bragazzi1Daniele Nucci2Mariano Martini3Roberto Rosselli4Liliana Minelli5Massimo Moretti6Department of Experimental Medicine, Post Graduate School in Hygiene and Preventive Medicine, University of Perugia, Perugia, ItalyDepartment of Health Sciences (DISSAL), University of Genoa, Genoa, ItalyDigestive Endoscopy Unit, Veneto Institute of Oncology IOV-IRCCS, Padua, ItalySection of History of Medicine and Ethics, Department of Health Sciences (DISSAL), University of Genoa, Genoa, ItalyHygiene and Public Health Unit, Local Health Unit 3 of Genoa, Genoa, ItalyDepartment of Experimental Medicine, University of Perugia, Perugia, ItalyDepartment of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Unit of Public Health, University of Perugia, Perugia, ItalyAimAccording to the World Health Organization (WHO), communicable tropical and sub-tropical diseases occur solely, or mainly in the tropics, thriving in hot, and humid conditions. Some of these disorders termed as neglected tropical diseases are particularly overlooked. Communicable tropical/sub-tropical diseases represent a diverse group of communicable disorders occurring in 149 countries, favored by tropical and sub-tropical conditions, affecting more than one billion people and imposing a dramatic societal and economic burden.MethodsA systematic review of the extant scholarly literature was carried out, searching in PubMed/MEDLINE and Scopus. The search string used included proper keywords, like big data, nontraditional data sources, social media, social networks, infodemiology, infoveillance, novel data streams (NDS), digital epidemiology, digital behavior, Google Trends, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, Ebola, Zika, dengue, Chikungunya, Chagas, and the other neglected tropical diseases.Results47 original, observational studies were included in the current systematic review: 1 focused on Chikungunya, 6 on dengue, 19 on Ebola, 2 on Malaria, 1 on Mayaro virus, 2 on West Nile virus, and 16 on Zika. Fifteen were dedicated on developing and validating forecasting techniques for real-time monitoring of neglected tropical diseases, while the remaining studies investigated public reaction to infectious outbreaks. Most studies explored a single nontraditional data source, with Twitter being the most exploited tool (25 studies).ConclusionEven though some studies have shown the feasibility of utilizing NDS as an effective tool for predicting epidemic outbreaks and disseminating accurate, high-quality information concerning neglected tropical diseases, some gaps should be properly underlined. Out of the 47 articles included, only 7 were focusing on neglected tropical diseases, while all the other covered communicable tropical/sub-tropical diseases, and the main determinant of this unbalanced coverage seems to be the media impact and resonance. Furthermore, efforts in integrating diverse NDS should be made. As such, taking into account these limitations, further research in the field is needed.http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpubh.2018.00090/fullbig dataZikaEbolaChikungunyaWest Nile virusdengue |
| spellingShingle | Vincenza Gianfredi Nicola Luigi Bragazzi Daniele Nucci Mariano Martini Roberto Rosselli Liliana Minelli Massimo Moretti Harnessing Big Data for Communicable Tropical and Sub-Tropical Disorders: Implications From a Systematic Review of the Literature Frontiers in Public Health big data Zika Ebola Chikungunya West Nile virus dengue |
| title | Harnessing Big Data for Communicable Tropical and Sub-Tropical Disorders: Implications From a Systematic Review of the Literature |
| title_full | Harnessing Big Data for Communicable Tropical and Sub-Tropical Disorders: Implications From a Systematic Review of the Literature |
| title_fullStr | Harnessing Big Data for Communicable Tropical and Sub-Tropical Disorders: Implications From a Systematic Review of the Literature |
| title_full_unstemmed | Harnessing Big Data for Communicable Tropical and Sub-Tropical Disorders: Implications From a Systematic Review of the Literature |
| title_short | Harnessing Big Data for Communicable Tropical and Sub-Tropical Disorders: Implications From a Systematic Review of the Literature |
| title_sort | harnessing big data for communicable tropical and sub tropical disorders implications from a systematic review of the literature |
| topic | big data Zika Ebola Chikungunya West Nile virus dengue |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpubh.2018.00090/full |
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