Evidence map›Paper›PMID 23343523›Full record

ArticleBMC medical informatics and decision making2013

in silico surveillance: evaluating outbreak detection with simulation models.

Bryan Lewis, Stephen Eubank, Allyson M Abrams, Ken Kleinman

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC medical informatics and decision making, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Bryan LewisSocial & Decision Informatics Laboratory, Virginia Tech Research Center, 900 N. Glebe Road, Arlington, VA 22203, USA. blewis@vbi.vt.edu
Stephen Eubank
Allyson M Abrams
Ken Kleinman

Funding

Synthetic Information Systems for Better Informing Public Health PolicymakersU01GM070694 · NIGMS · VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INST AND ST UNIV · PI EUBANK, STEPHEN G, MARATHE, MADHAV VISHNU · 2004 to 2016
$8.6M
Modeling Health System Infectious Disease DataU01GM076672 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-IRVINE · PI HUANG, SUSAN S. · 2006 to 2010
$3.0M
NIGMS NIH HHS 1U01GM076672NIGMS NIH HHS 2U01GM070694-7NIGMS NIH HHS U01 GM070694
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundDetecting outbreaks is a crucial task for public health officials, yet gaps remain in the systematic evaluation of outbreak detection protocols. The authors' objectives were to design, implement, and test a flexible methodology for generating detailed synthetic surveillance data that provides realistic geographical and temporal clustering of cases and use to evaluate outbreak detection protocols.

methodsA detailed representation of the Boston area was constructed, based on data about individuals, locations, and activity patterns. Influenza-like illness (ILI) transmission was simulated, producing 100 years of in silico ILI data. Six different surveillance systems were designed and developed using gathered cases from the simulated disease data. Performance was measured by inserting test outbreaks into the surveillance streams and analyzing the likelihood and timeliness of detection.

resultsDetection of outbreaks varied from 21% to 95%. Increased coverage did not linearly improve detection probability for all surveillance systems. Relaxing the decision threshold for signaling outbreaks greatly increased false-positives, improved outbreak detection slightly, and led to earlier outbreak detection.

conclusionsGeographical distribution can be more important than coverage level. Detailed simulations of infectious disease transmission can be configured to represent nearly any conceivable scenario. They are a powerful tool for evaluating the performance of surveillance systems and methods used for outbreak detection.

Indexed as

Computer SimulationBostonDisease OutbreaksHumansInfluenza, HumanPopulation Surveillance

Identifiers

PMID23343523
PMCPMC3691709

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.