Abstract
Singapore is a hotspot for emerging infectious diseases and faces a constant risk of pandemic outbreaks as a major travel and health hub for Southeast Asia. With an increasing penetration of smart phone usage in this region, Singapore’s pandemic preparedness framework can be strengthened by applying a mobile-based approach to health surveillance and control, and improving upon existing ideas by addressing gaps, such as a lack of health communication. FluMob is a digitally integrated syndromic surveillance system designed to assist health authorities in obtaining real-time epidemiological and surveillance data from health-care workers (HCWs) within Singapore, by allowing them to report influenza incidence using smartphones. The system, integrating a fully responsive web-based interface and a mobile interface, is made available to HCW using various types of mobile devices and web browsers. Real-time data generated from FluMob will be complementary to current health-care- and laboratory-based systems. This paper describes the development of FluMob, as well as challenges faced in the creation of the system.
Highlights
Seasonal influenza affects nearly 20–25% of the Singapore population [1]
Given the absence of an efficient surveillance system that addresses challenges within hospitals in Singapore, this paper reports the design and development of a prototype integrated mobile-health participatory influenza surveillance system entitled FluMob
The data collected at registration can be used for analytics at a later stage to identify any potential relationship between demographics, lifestyle behaviors, medical history, and vulnerability to influenza
Summary
Seasonal influenza affects nearly 20–25% of the Singapore population [1]. The all-cause mortality attributable to influenza stands at 14.8 per 100,000 person-years, making the burden comparable to other temperate countries [2]. Singapore is best positioned to spearhead the development of this public health innovation in the region and to scientifically evaluate its impact on population groups at risk from influenza These technologies can be integrated to design an innovative dynamic system where health authorities obtain real-time epidemiological and surveillance data from HCWs within Singapore who report disease incidence using smartphones. FluMob registration requires participants to fill in a form capturing demographic details (e.g., date of birth, sex, and ethnicity), workplace information (e.g., hospital name, job category, and department), information about family (e.g., how many people in different age groups), lifestyle behaviors (e.g., mode of transport to work and frequency of eating at food centers), medical history (e.g., vaccination records and disease profiles), as well as technology use and acceptance (e.g., usage of mobile phone, Internet, and mobile applications). This is an example of how transdisciplinary research can be both an advantage and a disadvantage to the implementation of such a research project
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