Imran Mahmood
University of Dammam
Saudi Arabia
Title: Foundations and technical challenges of spatio-temporal epidemiological surveillance
Biography
Biography: Imran Mahmood
Abstract
In this talk, we will discuss fundamental concepts of Epidemiological Surveillance (ES). ES is an ongoing systematic collection, visualization, analysis and interpretation of health data, collected for the purpose of timely dissemination of outbreak forecasts. It is an investigational approach where health experts are provided with automated set of tools for real-time data collection from various health departments, monitoring of disease indicators to detect outbreak earlier than would otherwise be possible with traditional diagnosis based methods. Hence the detection of adverse effects can be made at the earliest possible time, possibly even before disease diagnoses can be confirmed through clinical procedures and laboratory tests. We will highlight key challenges faced in the development and operations of Epidemiological Surveillance systems, mainly due to: (A) complex characteristics and the diverse nature of the infectious diseases, (B) the distinct nature of population dynamics, mobility, demographic factors and (C) the geographic nature, environment and the weather conditions of the area under study. We will discuss evolutionary development in the trends, methods and technologies of the surveillance systems and discuss how this progress is addressing the key challenges. In the end, we will argue how a sophisticated health surveillance system helps in alleviating potential health risks and minimize the threats of natural or man-made disasters and eventually supports effective decision making in emergency management.