Given the current attention on national health care reform and the electronic exchange of health information, this article highlights the major developments in disease surveillance and identifies a... Show More

Given the current attention on national health care reform and the electronic exchange of health information, this article highlights the major developments in disease surveillance and identifies a number of public health opportunities for geospatial thought leaders to undertake. Issues surrounding spatial data quality and resolution, the legal and ethical issues of volunteered geographical health information, and the technical demands of formulating a synthetic and integrative disease surveillance system represent the types of research questions that only geographers can address successfully.

Increasing attention is being paid to the impact of global climate change on yellow fever and dengue outbreaks. While useful, these studies neglect the role that travel may play in the distribution... Show More

Increasing attention is being paid to the impact of global climate change on yellow fever and dengue outbreaks. While useful, these studies neglect the role that travel may play in the distribution of Aedes aegypti, the primary vector of both viruses. Even less attention has been paid to the role travel patterns play in affecting the ecology of this vector. To help refocus the debate and illustrate how geographic information systems (GIS) can assist analysis, a global study of Ae. aegypti was digitized. Subsequently, several basic and advanced analyses of the surveys located in Africa were undertaken. Publicly available road data for the continent were included, along with recently published LandScan population data. A novel method for examining correlations within the data at various distances was developed. These correlations were then substantiated using Monte Carlo simulation techniques and found to be significant at p<0.001.

Socio-demographic and health indices vary across the administrative units in a country. Thus, reported morbidity and mortality figures vary and inter/intra state comparison becomes a challenge. To... Show More

Socio-demographic and health indices vary across the administrative units in a country. Thus, reported morbidity and mortality figures vary and inter/intra state comparison becomes a challenge. To handle such issues and administer a centralized health management system, identifying disease clusters and providing services to high risk population become important. Exploring a small part of the immense potential of geographic information systems (GIS) in centralized health management, this study presents a method of generating effective information for proper health management at local level. Such information is important for infectious diseases like tuberculosis (TB). The present paper discusses quarterly GIS mapping and assessment of TB in 1,965 villages of Almora district, Uttarakhand, India from 2003 to 2008. The values for Morbidity Rate (MBR) are depicted in risk maps for each quarter. Moran’s I indices were used to estimate the global spatial autocorrelation between the morbidity rates. Local Moran’s I (LISA) was used to detect spatial clusters and outliers, and for the prediction of hotspots of the disease. The result of this study has the potential to reflect a realistic assessment of the disease situation at the local level. Future work on this study can be utilized for planning and policy framework related to TB and other diseases.

With the advent of Web 2.0, the public is becoming increasingly interested in spatial data exploration. The potential for Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) to be adopted for passive disease... Show More

With the advent of Web 2.0, the public is becoming increasingly interested in spatial data exploration. The potential for Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) to be adopted for passive disease surveillance and mediated through an enhanced relationship between researchers and non-scientists is of special interest to the authors. In particular, mobile devices and wireless communication permit the public to be more involved in research to a greater degree. Furthermore, the accuracy of these devices is rapidly improving, allowing the authors to address questions of uncertainty and error in data collections. Cooperation between researchers and the public integrates themes common to VGI and PGIS (Participatory Geographic Information), to bring about a new paradigm in GIScience. This paper outlines the prototype for a VGI system that incorporates the traditional role of researchers in spatial data analysis and exploration and the willingness of the public, through traditional PGIS, to be engaged in data collection for the purpose of surveillance of tsetse flies, the primary vector of African Trypanosomiasis. This system allows for two-way communication between researchers and the public for data collection, analysis, and the ultimate dissemination of results. Enhancing the role of the public to participate in these types of projects can improve both the efficacy of disease surveillance as well as stimulating greater interest in science.