ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Alternative data sources are used increasingly to augment traditional public health surveillance systems. Examples include over-the-counter medication sales and school absenteeism. OBJECTIVE: We sought to determine if an increase in restaurant table availabilities was associated with an increase in disease incidence, specifically influenza-like illness (ILI). METHODS: Restaurant table availability was monitored using OpenTable, an online restaurant table reservation site. A daily search was performed for restaurants with available tables for 2 at the hour and at half past the hour for 22 distinct times: between 11:00 am-3:30 pm for lunch and between 6:00-11:30 PM for dinner. In the United States, we examined table availability for restaurants in Boston, Atlanta, Baltimore, and Miami. For Mexico, we studied table availabilities in Cancun, Mexico City, Puebla, Monterrey, and Guadalajara. Time series of restaurant use was compared with Google Flu Trends and ILI at the state and national levels for the United States and Mexico using the cross-correlation function. RESULTS: Differences in restaurant use were observed across sampling times and regions. We also noted similarities in time series trends between data on influenza activity and restaurant use. In some settings, significant correlations greater than 70% were noted between data on restaurant use and ILI trends. CONCLUSIONS: This study introduces and demonstrates the potential value of restaurant use data for event surveillance.
Subject(s)
Internet , Population Surveillance , Restaurants , Disease Outbreaks , Humans , Incidence , Mexico/epidemiology , United States/epidemiologyABSTRACT
Respiratory syncytial virus rapid antigen detection tests (RADT) are used widely. RADT exhibited high specificity (97%) and moderate sensitivity (80%) compared with reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction in 720 hospitalized children <3 years old. Older age, prolonged symptoms, and respiratory syncytial virus genotype-B infection were significantly associated with false-negative results of RADT.
Subject(s)
Antigens, Viral/analysis , Chromatography, Affinity , Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infections/diagnosis , Respiratory Syncytial Virus, Human/isolation & purification , Child, Preschool , DNA, Viral/analysis , Female , Hospitalization , Humans , Infant , Infant, Newborn , Logistic Models , Male , Multivariate Analysis , Predictive Value of Tests , Prospective Studies , Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infections/virology , Respiratory Syncytial Virus, Human/genetics , Respiratory Syncytial Virus, Human/immunology , Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction , Sensitivity and SpecificityABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The contribution made by fish ponds (pisciculture) to malaria transmission in the Peruvian Amazon remains to be confirmed. Recent entomological evidence indicates that Anopheles darlingi, the main malaria vector in the region, is frequently found in fish ponds along the Iquitos-Nauta road (Loreto, Peru). The aim of this study was to quantify the effect of fish pond density on malaria occurrence. METHODS: A retrospective 30-month cohort study was conducted in eight communities along the Iquitos-Nauta road. Malaria incidence was ascertained from malaria registries of the local health post, which consist of data from both active and passive surveillance (247 cases). Fish pond density was measured using an interpreted satellite image and information on potential confounders was collected through interviewer-administered questionnaires. RESULTS: A total of 1018 individuals from 234 eligible households (90% of the 259 total number of households in the study area) provided complete information on exposures and outcome. Fish pond density was found to be a significant predictor of malaria occurrence (aOR=1.23; 95% CI: 1.09-1.38). CONCLUSION: The association between fish pond density and malaria suggests that fish ponds contribute to malaria transmission in the region. These results have important implications for the prevention and control of malaria and the development of pisciculture as an important economic activity in Amazonia and beyond.
Subject(s)
Aquaculture , Malaria/epidemiology , Risk Assessment , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Animals , Anopheles/growth & development , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Incidence , Infant , Malaria/transmission , Male , Middle Aged , Peru , Retrospective Studies , Young AdultABSTRACT
We propose a modification of the spatial scan statistic that takes account of workflow, which is the movement of individuals between home and work. The objective is to detect clusters of disease in situations where exposure occurs in the workplace, but only home address is available for analysis. In these situations, application of the usual spatial scan statistic does not account for possible differences between home and work address, thereby reducing the power of detection. We describe an extension to the usual spatial scan statistic that uses workflow data to search for disease clusters resulting from workplace exposure. We also present results from simulations that demonstrate the increased power of the workflow scan statistic over the usual scan statistic for detecting clusters arising from exposures in the workplace.