Wamwenje Sarah A O, Wangwe Ibrahim I, Masila Nicodemus, Mirieri Caroline K, Wambua Lillian, Kulohoma Benard W
Centre for Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya.
International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology, Nairobi, Kenya.
BMC Res Notes. 2019 Mar 18;12(1):151. doi: 10.1186/s13104-019-4198-z.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, there is an increase in trypanosome non-susceptibility to multiple trypanocides, but limited information on judicious trypanocide use is accessible to smallholder farmers and agricultural stakeholders in disease endemic regions, resulting in widespread multi-drug resistance. Huge economic expenses and the laborious nature of extensive field studies have hindered collection of the requisite large-scale prospective datasets required to inform disease management. We examined the efficacy of community-led data collection strategies using smartphones by smallholder farmers to acquire robust datasets from the trypanosomiasis endemic Shimba hills region in Kenya. We used Open Data Kit, an open-source smartphone application development software, to create a data collection App.
Our study provides proof of concept for the viability of using smartphone Apps to remotely collect reliable large-scale information from smallholder farmers and veterinary health care givers in resource poor settings. We show that these datasets can be reliably collated remotely, analysed, and the findings can inform policies that improve farming practices and economic wellbeing while restricting widespread multi-drug resistance. Moreover, this strategy can be used to monitor and manage other infectious diseases in other rural, resource poor settings.
在撒哈拉以南非洲地区，锥虫对多种杀锥虫剂的耐药性正在增加，但疾病流行地区的小农户和农业利益相关者可获取的关于明智使用杀锥虫剂的信息有限，导致多药耐药性广泛传播。大规模实地研究的巨大经济成本和艰巨性阻碍了收集为疾病管理提供依据所需的必要大规模前瞻性数据集。我们研究了小农户使用智能手机通过社区主导的数据收集策略，从肯尼亚锥虫病流行的希姆巴山地区获取可靠数据集的效果。我们使用开源智能手机应用程序开发软件“开放数据套件”创建了一个数据收集应用程序。
我们的研究为在资源匮乏环境中使用智能手机应用程序从小农户和兽医保健人员那里远程收集可靠的大规模信息的可行性提供了概念验证。我们表明，这些数据集可以可靠地远程整理、分析，其结果可为改善耕作方式和经济福祉同时限制多药耐药性广泛传播的政策提供依据。此外，这一策略可用于监测和管理其他农村资源匮乏地区的传染病。
