Issues in the use of GPS and GIS applications in infectious disease

GMAT9205May 2011

Damien Cordery

John Snow’s cholera map, 1854

Potential role for GPS/GIS in infectious disease

Tracking of diseases:- case clusters, similar to the cholera map

- surveillance of disease- epidemic prediction and response

- emerging infections (SARS, West Nile virus) - potential influence climate change

- especially useful in resource delivery in developing world

Vazquez-Prokopec et al., PLoS Neg Trop Dis, 2010

Vazquez-Prokopec et al., PLoS Neg Trop Dis, 2010

Accurate positioning works well for tracking outbreaks or epidemics and identifying clusters

Vazquez-Prokopec et al., PLoS Neg Trop Dis, 2010

Limitations- Collected location may have no relation to exposure site- confidentiality in health is a big issue

Accurate positioning works well for tracking outbreaks or epidemics and identifying clusters

HIV in Australia- best that can be achieved ethically

HIV in Australia- best that can be achieved ethically

Not particularly useful in understanding or influencing the epidemic

HIV cases in rural South Africa

- unusual to see a study in HIV as confidentiality is a big issue

Tanser et al., IJE, 2009

HIV cases in rural South Africa

- unusual to see a study in HIV as confidentiality is a big issue

- to avoid identification of a particular residence a random error was introduced to each data point

Tanser et al., IJE, 2009

HIV cases in rural South Africa

- unusual to see a study in HIV as confidentiality is a big issue

- to avoid identification of a particular residence a random error was introduced to each data point

- doesn’t this wrongly identify someone else’s house?

Tanser et al., IJE, 2009

Spatially interpolated

Remote sensing

Meteorology sites in Africa

Interpolation of available data

Remote sensing data

Inaccessible regions

Hay and Lennon, Trop Med and Int Health, 1998

Represents areas where conditions are appropriate for malaria vectors.

Rogers et al., Nature 2002

Represents areas where conditions are appropriate for malaria vectors.Most useful for areas with little or no data.

Rogers et al., Nature 2002

Useful in areas with no data or access

Eisen and Eisen, Ann Rev Entomol 2011

Potential focus for limited resources

Eisen and Eisen, Ann Rev Entomol 2011

Potential focus for limited resources

Movement of people complicates the accuracy Eisen and Eisen, Ann Rev Entomol 2011

Limitations

• Confidentiality• Spatial information not

routinely collected • Collected location may

have no relation to exposure site

• Resource limited settings

• Targetting scarce resources to the best areas

• Predicting areas susceptible to transmission

Useful