Dataset Information

Surveillance on speed: Being aware of infectious diseases in migrants mass accommodations - an easy and flexible toolkit for field application of syndromic surveillance, Germany, 2016 to 2017.

ABSTRACT: Europe received an increased number of migrants in 2015. Housing in inadequate mass accommodations (MA) made migrants prone to infectious disease outbreaks. In order to enhance awareness for infectious diseases (ID) and to detect clusters early, we developed and evaluated a syndromic surveillance system in three MA with medical centres in Berlin, Germany. Healthcare workers transferred daily data on 14 syndromes to the German public health institute (Robert Koch-Institute). Clusters of ID syndromes and single cases of outbreak-prone diseases produced a signal according to a simple aberration-detection algorithm that computes a statistical threshold above which a case count is considered unusually high. Between May 2016-April 2017, 9,364 syndromes were reported; 2,717 (29%) were ID, of those 2,017 (74%) were respiratory infections, 262 (10%) skin parasites, 181 (7%) gastrointestinal infections. The system produced 204 signals, no major outbreak was detected. The surveillance reinforced awareness for public health aspects of ID. It provided real-time data on migrants' health and stressed the burden of non-communicable diseases. The tool is available online and was evaluated as being feasible and flexible. It complements traditional notification systems. We recommend its usage especially when laboratory testing is not available and real-time data are needed.

SUBMITTER: Sarma N

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6178587 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Surveillance on speed: Being aware of infectious diseases in migrants mass accommodations - an easy and flexible toolkit for field application of syndromic surveillance, Germany, 2016 to 2017.

Sarma Navina N Ullrich Alexander A Wilking Hendrik H Ghozzi Stéphane S Lindner Andreas K AK Weber Christoph C Holzer Alexandra A Jansen Andreas A Stark Klaus K Vygen-Bonnet Sabine S

Euro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin 20181001 40

Europe received an increased number of migrants in 2015. Housing in inadequate mass accommodations (MA) made migrants prone to infectious disease outbreaks. In order to enhance awareness for infectious diseases (ID) and to detect clusters early, we developed and evaluated a syndromic surveillance system in three MA with medical centres in Berlin, Germany. Healthcare workers transferred daily data on 14 syndromes to the German public health institute (Robert Koch-Institute). Clusters of ID syndro ...[more]

PMID: 30301488

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Project description:BackgroundDespite the growing number of people with migrant background in Germany, a systematic review about their utilization of health care and differences to the non-migrant population is lacking. By covering various sectors of health care and migrant populations, the review aimed at giving a general overview and identifying special areas of potential intervention.MethodsA systematic review was conducted in PubMed database including records that were published until 1st of June 2017. Further criteria for eligibility were a publication in a peer-reviewed journal written in English or German language. The studies have to report quantitative and original data of a population residing in Germany. The appropriateness of the studies was judged by both authors. Studies were excluded if native controls were not originated from the same sample. Moreover, indicators of health care utilization have to assess individual behaviour like consultation or participation rates. 63 studies met the inclusion criteria for a qualitative synthesis of the findings.ResultsThe overall findings indicate a lower utilization among migrants, although the results vary in terms of health care sector, indicator of health care utilization and migrant population. For specialist care, medication use, therapist consultations and counselling, rehabilitation as well as disease prevention (early cancer detection, prevention programs for children and oral health check-ups) a lower utilization among people with migrant background was found. The lower usage was particularly shown for migrants of the 1st generation, people with two-sided migrant background, children/adolescents and women. Due to the methodological heterogeneity a meta-analysis was not feasible. As most of the studies were cross-sectional, no causal interpretations could be drawn.ConclusionsThe inequalities in utilization could not substantially be explained by differences in the socioeconomic status. Other reasons of lower utilization could be due to differences in need, preferences, information, language and formal access barriers (e.g. charges, waiting times, travel distances or lost wages). Different migrant-specific and migrant-sensitive strategies are relevant to address the problem for certain health care sectors and migrant populations.Trial registrationThe review protocol was registered on PROSPERO ( CRD42014015162 ).

Project description:Most high throughput genomic data analysis pipelines currently rely on over-representation or gene set enrichment analysis (ORA/GSEA) approaches for functional analysis. In contrast, topology-based pathway analysis methods, which offer a more biologically informed perspective by incorporating interaction and topology information, have remained underutilized and inaccessible due to various limiting factors. These methods heavily rely on the quality of pathway topologies and often utilize predefined topologies from databases without assessing their correctness. To address these issues and make topology-aware pathway analysis more accessible and flexible, we introduce the PSF (Pathway Signal Flow) toolkit R package. Our toolkit integrates pathway curation and topology-based analysis, providing interactive and command-line tools that facilitate pathway importation, correction, and modification from diverse sources. This enables users to perform topology-based pathway signal flow analysis in both interactive and command-line modes. To showcase the toolkit's usability, we curated 36 KEGG signaling pathways and conducted several use-case studies, comparing our method with ORA and the topology-based signaling pathway impact analysis (SPIA) method. The results demonstrate that the algorithm can effectively identify ORA enriched pathways while providing more detailed branch-level information. Moreover, in contrast to the SPIA method, it offers the advantage of being cut-off free and less susceptible to the variability caused by selection thresholds. By combining pathway curation and topology-based analysis, the PSF toolkit enhances the quality, flexibility, and accessibility of topology-aware pathway analysis. Researchers can now easily import pathways from various sources, correct and modify them as needed, and perform detailed topology-based pathway signal flow analysis. In summary, our PSF toolkit offers an integrated solution that addresses the limitations of current topology-based pathway analysis methods. By providing interactive and command-line tools for pathway curation and topology-based analysis, we empower researchers to conduct comprehensive pathway analyses across a wide range of applications.

Project description:Mass gatherings frequently include close, prolonged interactions between people, which presents opportunities for infectious disease transmission. Over 20,000 pilgrims gathered at Namugongo Catholic and Protestant shrines to commemorate 2022 Uganda Martyr's Day. We described syndromes suggestive of key priority diseases particularly COVID-19 and viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF) among visiting pilgrims during May 25-June 5, 2022. We conducted a survey among pilgrims at the catholic and protestant shrines based on signs and symptoms for key priority diseases: COVID-19 and VHF. A suspected COVID-19 case was defined as acute respiratory illness (temperature greater 37.5°C and at least one sign/symptom of respiratory infection such as cough or shortness of breath) whereas a suspected VHF case was defined as fever >37.5°C and unexplained bleeding among pilgrims who visited Namugongo Catholic and Protestant shrines from May 25 to June 5, 2022. Pilgrims were sampled systematically at entrances and demarcated zonal areas to participate in the survey. Additionally, we extracted secondary data on pilgrims who sought emergency medical services from Health Management Information System registers. Descriptive analysis was conducted to identify syndromes suggestive of key priority diseases. Among 1,350 pilgrims interviewed, 767 (57%) were female. The mean age was 37.9 (±17.9) years. Nearly all pilgrims 1,331 (98.6%) were Ugandans. A total of 236 (18%) reported ≥1 case definition symptom and 42 (3%) reported ≥2 symptoms. Thirty-nine (2.9%) were suspected COVID-19 cases and three (0.2%) were suspected VHF cases from different regions of Uganda. Among 5,582 pilgrims who sought medical care from tents, 628 (11.3%) had suspected COVID-19 and one had suspected VHF. Almost one in fifty pilgrims at the 2022 Uganda Martyrs' commemoration had at least one symptom of COVID-19 or VHF. Intensified syndromic surveillance and planned laboratory testing capacity at mass gatherings is important for early detection of public health emergencies that could stem from such events.

Dataset Information

Surveillance on speed: Being aware of infectious diseases in migrants mass accommodations - an easy and flexible toolkit for field application of syndromic surveillance, Germany, 2016 to 2017.

Publications

Surveillance on speed: Being aware of infectious diseases in migrants mass accommodations - an easy and flexible toolkit for field application of syndromic surveillance, Germany, 2016 to 2017.

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