The Establishment and Application of Mobile Electronic Surveillance System for Infectious Diseases with the Help of China - Sierra Leone, 2016-Present.

Guangyu Zhao,Yansong Sun,Lei Lin,Yanfeng Yan,Foday Sahr,Qiang Xu,Haorong Chen,Stephen Sevalie,Wei Liu,Henry Saidu Bangura,Yajun Song,Jinjin Chen,Kandeh Bassie Kargbo ,Jia-Fu Jiang ,Bao-Gui Jiang ,Li‐Qun Fang

doi:10.46234/ccdcw2021.189

Abstract

IntroductionInfectious disease surveillance has long been a challenge for low-income countries like Sierra Leone. Traditional approaches based on paper and Short Message Service (SMS) were subject to severe delays in obtaining, transmitting, and analyzing information.MethodsDuring the China aid operation for fighting Ebola since the end of 2014, a mobile electronic surveillance system for infectious diseases (MESSID) was developed in collaboration with the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF), which comprised an Android-based reporting system and a complementary web-based program designed by Active Server Page.NET (ASP.NET) with the main functions including surveillance, real-time reporting, and risk assessment of infectious diseases.ResultsMESSID was successfully registered in June 2016 and had been used by all medical and health institutions in RSLAF. From June 1, 2016 to July 5, 2021, 34,419 cases were diagnosed with 47 infectious diseases of 5 categories, with a total of 42 clinical symptoms. Compared to traditional approaches based on paper and SMS, the MESSID showed flexibility, high efficiency, convenience, and acceptability.DiscussionMESSID is an accessible tool for surveillance of infectious diseases in Sierra Leone and possibly in other African countries with similar needs, capable of improving timeliness of disease reporting, thus rendering a timely outbreak detection and response.

Highlights

Infectious disease surveillance has long been a challenge for low-income countries like Sierra Leone
The Application of mobile electronic surveillance system for infectious diseases (MESSID) A pilot version of this system was implemented in June 2016 in partnership with all medical and health institutions in Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF)
The systems were successfully registered and used by medical staff from Joint Medical Units of RSLAF stationed at the 12 districts, which had taken all 31 Medical Inspection Rooms and hospitals in RSLAF

Summary

Introduction

Infectious disease surveillance has long been a challenge for low-income countries like Sierra Leone. Traditional approaches based on paper and Short Message Service (SMS) were subject to severe delays in obtaining, transmitting, and analyzing information. A lack of public health infrastructure in conjunction with delays in laboratory detection and implementation of control interventions have contributed to the widespread transmission of EVD in the country. Major gaps exist for collecting, processing, and transmitting data, primarily due to the lack of adequate reporting tools and limited access to laboratory diagnosis of infectious diseases. The paper and SMS disease reporting systems had been applied by the medical and healthcare system of Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF). The submission of surveillance forms was affected by poor transport and telecommunication infrastructures, poor electricity facilities, weather conditions, and challenging terrain

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Conclusion