Abstract
BackgroundA surveillance system is the foundation for disease prevention and control. Malaria surveillance is crucial for tracking regional and temporal patterns in disease incidence, assisting in recorded details, timely reporting, and frequency of analysis.ObjectiveIn this study, we aim to develop an integrated surveillance graphical app called FeverTracker, which has been designed to assist the community and health care workers in digital surveillance and thereby contribute toward malaria control and elimination.MethodsFeverTracker uses a geographic information system and is linked to a web app with automated data digitization, SMS text messaging, and advisory instructions, thereby allowing immediate notification of individual cases to district and state health authorities in real time.ResultsThe use of FeverTracker for malaria surveillance is evident, given the archaic paper-based surveillance tools used currently. The use of the app in 19 tribal villages of the Dhalai district in Tripura, India, assisted in the surveillance of 1880 suspected malaria patients and confirmed malaria infection in 93.4% (114/122; Plasmodium falciparum), 4.9% (6/122; P vivax), and 1.6% (2/122; P falciparum/P vivax mixed infection) of cases. Digital tools such as FeverTracker will be critical in integrating disease surveillance, and they offer instant data digitization for downstream processing.ConclusionsThe use of this technology in health care and research will strengthen the ongoing efforts to eliminate malaria. Moreover, FeverTracker provides a modifiable template for deployment in other disease systems.
Highlights
BackgroundSurveillance is defined as “the continuous and systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of disease-specific data, and the use of that data in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of public health practice” [1]
A combination of effective activities such as passive case detection (PCD; ie, febrile patients reach out to health facilities and get diagnosed) and active case detection (ACD; ie, patients with malaria are detected by health workers through active search in the community) are used by the surveillance systems [6]
The registered health care workers involved in door-to-door screening (ACD protocol) for malaria surveillance can use this app (Figure 1A)
Summary
BackgroundSurveillance is defined as “the continuous and systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of disease-specific data, and the use of that data in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of public health practice” [1]. Health care workers engage in malaria surveillance via ACD and PCD at all levels of the health system and communicate data from the field to the district and state health levels. This is the usual channel of data communication deployed in malaria-endemic regions for malaria control and elimination. The use of the app in 19 tribal villages of the Dhalai district in Tripura, India, assisted in the surveillance of 1880 suspected malaria patients and confirmed malaria infection in 93.4% (114/122; Plasmodium falciparum), 4.9% (6/122; P vivax), and 1.6% (2/122; P falciparum/P vivax mixed infection) of cases Digital tools such as FeverTracker will be critical in integrating disease surveillance, and they offer instant data digitization for downstream processing. FeverTracker provides a modifiable template for deployment in other disease systems
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