Big data can prevent global health crises — it's time to make the most of it

Every year, more than 1 million people die from vector-borne diseases. These diseases are carried by mosquitoes and other blood-sucking insects, who once infected can transmit the disease to hundreds of victims in an alarmingly short time frame.

Globalization of travel and trade, unplanned urbanization and environmental challenges such as climate change have had a significant impact on disease transmission in recent years. Some diseases, such as dengue, chikungunya and West Nile virus, are emerging in countries where they were previously unknown.

Dengue fever is of particular interest given its geographic spread, public health impact and capacity for disrupting health systems. It causes fever, headache, vomiting, joint pain and a skin rash, and has been linked topregnancy risks. Spread by the same mosquito responsible for the Zika outbreak, it is the fastest-growing mosquito-borne viral infection in the world today.

In the 1970s, fewer than 10 countries reported epidemics of severe dengue. Today, dengue is present in over 150 countries, meaning that around40 percent of the world’s populationnow live in countries where dengue is a daily risk.

An ongoing crisis

Theeconomic toll of dengue feverand its impact on health systems are enormous — the total annualcost of denguehas been put at $8 billion.

Moreover, dengue outbreaks adversely affect other health service users. Health system capacity can adapt to meet predictable demand for malaria or diabetes care. But dengue outbreaks are sporadic, unpredictable and highly disruptive.

What can be done?

Despite progress in recent years, most cases of mosquito-borne infection are still not diagnosed today. Better diagnostics and wider disease surveillance data are required not only to get a handle on the true scale of the challenge, but also to measure the real-world impact of preventative measures such as mosquito control and immunization — and this is where technology comes in.

Break Dengue’sDengue Trackinitiative is one example of a tool that tracks the epidemiology of dengue in order to understand and prevent future outbreaks. Thiscrowdsourced tooloffers a user-friendly online chat system which maps dengue cases worldwide, as well as giving the public free access to toolkits that help reduce their risk of infection.

As those who encounter dengue report the location through the chat system, a clear map can be plotted to show high-risk areas. By pairing this information with official data sources from governments and health care authorities, as well as data sourced from social media and search engines, an even more comprehensive picture of real-time dengue outbreaks can be built.

This will provide both authorities and nongovernmental organizations with valuable, actionable data based on which they can make informed decisions, as well as providing travellers with vital information if they are traveling to a high-risk area.

Full text available athttps://www.devex.com/news/opinion-big-data-can-prevent-global-health-cr...