Schafer Ilana J, Knudsen Erik, McNamara Lucy A, Agnihotri Sachin, Rollin Pierre E, Islam Asad
Epi Info Team, Division of Health Informatics and Surveillance Viral Special Pathogens Branch, Division of High Consequence Pathogens and Pathology.
Epi Info Team, Division of Health Informatics and Surveillance.
J Infect Dis. 2016 Oct 15;214(suppl 3):S122-S136. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiw272. Epub 2016 Sep 1.
The Epi Info Viral Hemorrhagic Fever application (Epi Info VHF) was developed in response to challenges managing outbreak data during four 2012 filovirus outbreaks. Development goals included combining case and contact data in a relational database, facilitating data-driven contact tracing, and improving outbreak data consistency and use. The application was first deployed in Guinea, when the West Africa Ebola epidemic was detected, in March 2014, and has been used in 7 African countries and 2 US states. Epi Info VHF enabled reporting of compatible data from multiple countries, contributing to international Ebola knowledge. However, challenges were encountered in accommodating the epidemic's unexpectedly large magnitude, addressing country-specific needs within 1 software product, and using the application in settings with limited Internet access and information technology support. Use of Epi Info VHF in the West Africa Ebola epidemic highlighted the fundamental importance of good data management for effective outbreak response, regardless of the software used.
“Epi Info 病毒性出血热”应用程序(Epi Info VHF)是为应对 2012 年四次丝状病毒疫情期间管理疫情数据的挑战而开发的。其开发目标包括在关系数据库中整合病例和接触者数据、促进以数据驱动的接触者追踪,以及提高疫情数据的一致性和利用率。该应用程序于 2014 年 3 月在几内亚首次部署,当时西非埃博拉疫情被检测到,并且已在 7 个非洲国家和美国的 2 个州使用。Epi Info VHF 实现了来自多个国家的兼容数据报告,为国际埃博拉知识做出了贡献。然而,在应对疫情出乎意料的规模、在一个软件产品中满足各国特定需求,以及在互联网接入和信息技术支持有限的环境中使用该应用程序时遇到了挑战。在西非埃博拉疫情中使用 Epi Info VHF 凸显了良好数据管理对于有效应对疫情的根本重要性,无论使用何种软件。