What we can learn from the exported cases in detecting disease outbreaks - a case study of the COVID-19 epidemic.

PURPOSE: Early warning in the travel origins is crucial to prevent disease spreading. When travel origins have delays in reporting disease outbreaks, the exported cases could be used to estimate the epidemic. METHODS: We developed a Bayesian model to jointly estimate the epidemic prevalence and detection delay using the exported cases and their arrival and detection dates. We used simulation studies to discuss potential biases generated by the exported cases. We proposed a hypothesis testing framework to determine the epidemic severity. RESULTS: We applied the method to the early phase of the COVID-19 epidemic of Wuhan, United States, Italy, and Iran and found that the indicators estimated from the exported cases were consistent with the domestic data under certain scenarios. The exported cases could generate various biases if not modeled properly. We presented the required number of exported cases for determining different severity levels of the outbreak. CONCLUSIONS: The exported case data is a good addition to the domestic data but also has its drawbacks. Utilizing the diagnosis resources from all countries, we advocate that countries work collaboratively to strengthen the global infectious disease surveillance system.

Building a robust interface between public health authorities and medical institutions in a densely populated city: State-of-the-art integrated pandemic and emerging disease preparedness in the Greater Tokyo Area in Japan

Enhanced global travel networks have heightened the risk of emerging infectious diseases escalating into pandemics in a short time. The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 reminded us of the importance of peacetime efforts to establish a basis for responding to a pandemic. Kawasaki City, one of the government-designated cities in the Greater Tokyo area in Japan, has made continuous efforts to reinforce preparedness and response capacity for emerging diseases. City authorities have sought to enhance communication and foster trust between the public health authority and medical institutions through a real-time information sharing system. The City has built trustworthy relationships with multiple stakeholders through various forms of joint exercises. Kawasaki City has also effectively developed a human resource development program, the “Field Epidemiology Training Program-Kawasaki (FETP-K), " that collaborates closely with the national FETP. This chapter introduces the details of a series of activities and lessons for reinforcing pandemic and emerging disease preparedness in urban areas in Japan. © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Apply IOT technology to practice a pandemic prevention body temperature measurement system: A case study of response measures for COVID-19

Today, the most serious threat to global health is the continuous outbreak of respiratory diseases, which is called Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). The outbreak of COVID-19 has brought severe challenges to public health and has attracted great attention from the research and medical communities. Most patients infected with COVID-19 will have fever. Therefore, the monitoring of body temperature has become one of the most important basis for pandemic prevention and testing. Among them, the measurement of body temperature is the most direct through the Forehead Thermometer, but the measurement speed is relatively slow. The cost of fast-checking body temperature measurement equipment, such as infrared body temperature detection and face recognition temperature machine, is too high, and it is difficult to build Disease Surveillance System (DSS). To solve the above-mentioned problems, the Intelligent pandemic prevention Temperature Measurement System (ITMS) and Pandemic Prevention situation Analysis System (PPAS) are proposed in this study. ITMS is used to detect body temperature. However, PPAS uses big data analysis techniques to prevent pandemics. In this study, the campus field is used as an example, in which ITMS and PPAS are used. In the research, Proof of Concept (PoC), Proof of Service (PoS), and Proof of Business (PoB) were carried out for the use of ITMS and PPAS in the campus area. From the verification, it can be seen that ITMS and PPAS can be successfully used in campus fields and are widely recognized by users. Through the verification of this research, it can be determined that ITMS and PPAS are indeed feasible and capable of dissemination. The ITMS and PPAS are expected to give full play to their functions during the spread of pandemics. All in all, the results of this research will provide a wide range of applied thinking for people who are committed to the development of science and technology.