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Early Warning - The Scientist - Magazine of the Life Sciences

Early Warning - The Scientist - Magazine of the Life Sciences Stung by anthrax mailings after suicide skyjackings, the United States is hurrying to erect an electronic line of defense against further bioterrorism. At least five sophisticated biosurveillance systems are under development with federal funding to nonprofit and to proprietary ventures; two other groups already have products on the market. The goal is to install a national sentinel network that can detect suspicious trends in medical data and in illness behavior before diagnosis, to help contain a disease by identifying it soon after infections begin. Called syndromic surveillance because it tracks signs and symptoms rather than positively diagnosed disease, this new technology will also accelerate containment of naturally occurring pathogens. The data processed by these systems range from traditional patient charts to such nontraditional sources as Internet health site hits, over-the-counter drug sales, or absences from work and school. A major challenge is accurate analysis of the data, which can involve complex statistical methods, decision-making tools, and even artificial intelligence. But many questions remain to be fully answered, including: How much time between infection and medical treatment can be saved by these methods; what kinds of data are the best indicators of serious disease outbreak; and how well will http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png The Scientist The Scientist

Early Warning - The Scientist - Magazine of the Life Sciences

The Scientist , Volume 16 (9): 14 – Apr 29, 2002

Early Warning - The Scientist - Magazine of the Life Sciences

The Scientist , Volume 16 (9): 14 – Apr 29, 2002

Abstract

Stung by anthrax mailings after suicide skyjackings, the United States is hurrying to erect an electronic line of defense against further bioterrorism. At least five sophisticated biosurveillance systems are under development with federal funding to nonprofit and to proprietary ventures; two other groups already have products on the market. The goal is to install a national sentinel network that can detect suspicious trends in medical data and in illness behavior before diagnosis, to help contain a disease by identifying it soon after infections begin. Called syndromic surveillance because it tracks signs and symptoms rather than positively diagnosed disease, this new technology will also accelerate containment of naturally occurring pathogens. The data processed by these systems range from traditional patient charts to such nontraditional sources as Internet health site hits, over-the-counter drug sales, or absences from work and school. A major challenge is accurate analysis of the data, which can involve complex statistical methods, decision-making tools, and even artificial intelligence. But many questions remain to be fully answered, including: How much time between infection and medical treatment can be saved by these methods; what kinds of data are the best indicators of serious disease outbreak; and how well will

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Publisher
The Scientist
Copyright
© 1986-2010 The Scientist
ISSN
1759-796X
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Stung by anthrax mailings after suicide skyjackings, the United States is hurrying to erect an electronic line of defense against further bioterrorism. At least five sophisticated biosurveillance systems are under development with federal funding to nonprofit and to proprietary ventures; two other groups already have products on the market. The goal is to install a national sentinel network that can detect suspicious trends in medical data and in illness behavior before diagnosis, to help contain a disease by identifying it soon after infections begin. Called syndromic surveillance because it tracks signs and symptoms rather than positively diagnosed disease, this new technology will also accelerate containment of naturally occurring pathogens. The data processed by these systems range from traditional patient charts to such nontraditional sources as Internet health site hits, over-the-counter drug sales, or absences from work and school. A major challenge is accurate analysis of the data, which can involve complex statistical methods, decision-making tools, and even artificial intelligence. But many questions remain to be fully answered, including: How much time between infection and medical treatment can be saved by these methods; what kinds of data are the best indicators of serious disease outbreak; and how well will

Journal

The ScientistThe Scientist

Published: Apr 29, 2002

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