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

Guangyu Zhao; Haorong Chen; Yanfeng Yan; Jiafu Jiang; Lei Lin; Baogui Jiang; Foday Sahr; Stephen Sevalie; Qiang Xu; Jinjin Chen; Henry Saidu Bangura; Kandeh Bassie Kargbo; Yajun Song; Wei Liu; Liqun Fang; Yansong Sun

doi:10.46234/ccdcw2021.189

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

China CDC Wkly. 2021 Sep 3;3(36):763-768. doi: 10.46234/ccdcw2021.189.

Authors

Guangyu Zhao¹, Haorong Chen^{1

2}, Yanfeng Yan¹, Jiafu Jiang¹, Lei Lin¹, Baogui Jiang¹, Foday Sahr^{3

4}, Stephen Sevalie⁴, Qiang Xu¹, Jinjin Chen¹, Henry Saidu Bangura⁴, Kandeh Bassie Kargbo⁴, Yajun Song¹, Wei Liu¹, Liqun Fang¹, Yansong Sun^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing, China.
² College of Life Science and Technology, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, China.
³ College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, University of Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra Leone.
⁴ 34 Military Hospital, Wilberforce, Freetown, Sierra Leone.

Abstract

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.

Methods: During 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.

Results: MESSID 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.

Discussion: MESSID 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.

Keywords: Infectious; Mobiles; Sierra Leone; Surveillances.

Copyright and License information: Editorial Office of CCDCW, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention 2021.

Grants and funding

The China Mega-Project on Infectious Disease Prevention (2018ZX10101003-002), the Key Research and Development Program of China (2019YFC1200604), and the National Natural Science Funds (81825019)