Infectious Disease Epidemiology Unit, School of Population Health, The University of Queensland, Herston, QLD, Australia.
Infectious Disease Epidemiology Unit, School of Population Health, The University of Queensland, Herston, QLD, Australia.
Lancet Infect Dis. 2014 Feb;14(2):160-8. doi: 10.1016/S1473-3099(13)70244-5. Epub 2013 Nov 28.
Emerging infectious diseases present a complex challenge to public health officials and governments; these challenges have been compounded by rapidly shifting patterns of human behaviour and globalisation. The increase in emerging infectious diseases has led to calls for new technologies and approaches for detection, tracking, reporting, and response. Internet-based surveillance systems offer a novel and developing means of monitoring conditions of public health concern, including emerging infectious diseases. We review studies that have exploited internet use and search trends to monitor two such diseases: influenza and dengue. Internet-based surveillance systems have good congruence with traditional surveillance approaches. Additionally, internet-based approaches are logistically and economically appealing. However, they do not have the capacity to replace traditional surveillance systems; they should not be viewed as an alternative, but rather an extension. Future research should focus on using data generated through internet-based surveillance and response systems to bolster the capacity of traditional surveillance systems for emerging infectious diseases.
新发传染病对公共卫生官员和政府构成了复杂的挑战；这些挑战因人类行为和全球化的迅速变化模式而更加复杂。新发传染病的增加促使人们呼吁采用新技术和方法来进行检测、跟踪、报告和应对。基于互联网的监测系统为监测公共卫生关注的情况，包括新发传染病，提供了新颖和不断发展的手段。我们回顾了利用互联网使用和搜索趋势来监测两种疾病（流感和登革热）的研究。基于互联网的监测系统与传统监测方法具有良好的一致性。此外，基于互联网的方法在后勤和经济上具有吸引力。但是，它们没有能力替代传统的监测系统；它们不应被视为替代方案，而应被视为扩展。未来的研究应侧重于利用通过基于互联网的监测和应对系统生成的数据来增强传统监测系统对新发传染病的能力。
