GIS for Early Detection and Response to Infectious Disease
ESRI has released a new GIS Best Practices e-book titled “Early Detection and Response to Infectious Disease.”
Successful understanding and response to infectious disease outbreaks depend greatly on the ability to consider the surrounding context. Disease spreads geographically, and interventions occur in relation to human, institutional, climatic, and other kinds of landscapes. Because GIS technology relates many kinds of data to geographic location, it excels in tracking not only disease spread but also laboratory specimen and medical supply whereabouts, hospital bed availability, testing facility proximity, vulnerable population locations, and medical personnel distribution. Built-in GIS analysis tools provide effective early warning systems and preparedness programs that generate meaningful information that public health officials need to make effective decisions—at the community, national, and global levels.
During an outbreak, GIS provides tools that speed the collection of accurate field data. Complex statistical and other analyses applied with GIS technology provide relevant information to support sound decisions. GIS analysis can, for example, locate a potential disease hot spot and calculate a nearby hospital’s ability to handle the expected increase in service demand if an outbreak should occur.
Application stories in this new e-book include:
- GIS Application for Early Detection Tracks Hospital-Reported Symptoms
- Spatial Analysis Gives Insight into Source of Legionnaires’ Disease
- GIS Empowers Emergency Response and Public Health Awareness
- Health and Human Services Tracks Stockpile Shipments on the Web
- Tracking SARS in China With GIS
- Consolidation of Information Makes Vector Control Data
- Accessible and Reduces Costs in New Zealand
- Down-to-Earth Approach Jumpstarts GIS for Dengue Outbreak
