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Influenzanet: citizens among 10 countries collaborating to monitor influenza in Europe

2017-09-19Journal article Open access
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dc.contributor.authorKoppeschaar, Carl E.
dc.contributor.authorColizza, Vittoria
dc.contributor.authorGuerrisi, Caroline
dc.contributor.authorTurbelin, Clément
dc.contributor.authorDuggan, Jim
dc.contributor.authorEdmunds, W John
dc.contributor.authorKjelsø, Charlotte
dc.contributor.authorMexia, Ricardo
dc.contributor.authorMoreno, Yamir
dc.contributor.authorMeloni, Sandro
dc.contributor.authorPaolotti, Daniela
dc.contributor.authorPerrotta, Daniela
dc.contributor.authorvan Straten, Edward
dc.contributor.authorFranco, Ana O.
dc.date.accessioned2018-03-01T12:27:03Z
dc.date.available2018-03-01T12:27:03Z
dc.date.issued2017-09-19
dc.descriptionFree PMC Article: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5627046/pt_PT
dc.description.abstractBackground: The wide availability of the Internet and the growth of digital communication technologies have become an important tool for epidemiological studies and health surveillance. Influenzanet is a participatory surveillance system monitoring the incidence of influenza-like illness (ILI) in Europe since 2003. It is based on data provided by volunteers who self-report their symptoms via the Internet throughout the influenza season and currently involves 10 countries. Objective: In this paper, we describe the Influenzanet system and provide an overview of results from several analyses that have been performed with the collected data, which include participant representativeness analyses, data validation (comparing ILI incidence rates between Influenzanet and sentinel medical practice networks), identification of ILI risk factors, and influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE) studies previously published. Additionally, we present new VE analyses for the Netherlands, stratified by age and chronic illness and offer suggestions for further work and considerations on the continuity and sustainability of the participatory system. Methods: Influenzanet comprises country-specific websites where residents can register to become volunteers to support influenza surveillance and have access to influenza-related information. Participants are recruited through different communication channels. Following registration, volunteers submit an intake questionnaire with their postal code and sociodemographic and medical characteristics, after which they are invited to report their symptoms via a weekly electronic newsletter reminder. Several thousands of participants have been engaged yearly in Influenzanet, with over 36,000 volunteers in the 2015-16 season alone. Results: In summary, for some traits and in some countries (eg, influenza vaccination rates in the Netherlands), Influenzanet participants were representative of the general population. However, for other traits, they were not (eg, participants underrepresent the youngest and oldest age groups in 7 countries). The incidence of ILI in Influenzanet was found to be closely correlated although quantitatively higher than that obtained by the sentinel medical practice networks. Various risk factors for acquiring an ILI infection were identified. The VE studies performed with Influenzanet data suggest that this surveillance system could develop into a complementary tool to measure the effectiveness of the influenza vaccine, eventually in real time. Conclusions: Results from these analyses illustrate that Influenzanet has developed into a fast and flexible monitoring system that can complement the traditional influenza surveillance performed by sentinel medical practices. The uniformity of Influenzanet allows for direct comparison of ILI rates between countries. It also has the important advantage of yielding individual data, which can be used to identify risk factors. The way in which the Influenzanet system is constructed allows the collection of data that could be extended beyond those of ILI cases to monitor pandemic influenza and other common or emerging diseases.pt_PT
dc.description.sponsorshipInfluenzanet was supported by the EC-ICT IP EPIWORK g.a. no.231807. De Grote Griepmeting (Netherlands and Belgium) is supported by Science in Action BV. Influweb (Italy) is partially supported by H2020 FETPROACT-GSS CIMPLEX Grant No. 641191. Grippenet (France) is supported by the ANR contract no. ANR-12-MONU-0018 (HARMSFLU). The Spanish initiative has been partially supported by the EC FET-Proactive Project Multiplex (grant 317532).pt_PT
dc.description.versioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionpt_PT
dc.identifier.citationJMIR Public Health Surveill. 2017 Sep 19;3(3):e58. doi: 10.2196/publichealth.7429pt_PT
dc.identifier.doi10.2196/publichealth.7429pt_PT
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10400.18/5105
dc.language.isoengpt_PT
dc.peerreviewedyespt_PT
dc.publisherJournal of Medical Internet Research (JMIR)pt_PT
dc.relationDeveloping the Framework for an Epidemic Forecast Infrastructure
dc.relationBringing CItizens, Models and Data together in Participatory, Interactive SociaL EXploratories
dc.relationFoundational Research on MULTIlevel comPLEX networks and systems
dc.relation.publisherversionhttp://publichealth.jmir.org/2017/3/e66/pt_PT
dc.subjectInfluenzapt_PT
dc.subjectSurveillancept_PT
dc.subjectInternetpt_PT
dc.subjectVaccinationpt_PT
dc.subjectEuropept_PT
dc.subjectEstados de Saúde e de Doençapt_PT
dc.subjectObservação em Saúde e Vigilânciapt_PT
dc.titleInfluenzanet: citizens among 10 countries collaborating to monitor influenza in Europept_PT
dc.typejournal article
dspace.entity.typePublication
oaire.awardTitleDeveloping the Framework for an Epidemic Forecast Infrastructure
oaire.awardTitleBringing CItizens, Models and Data together in Participatory, Interactive SociaL EXploratories
oaire.awardTitleFoundational Research on MULTIlevel comPLEX networks and systems
oaire.awardURIinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/FP7/231807/EU
oaire.awardURIinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/641191/EU
oaire.awardURIinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/FP7/317532/EU
oaire.citation.issue3pt_PT
oaire.citation.startPagee58pt_PT
oaire.citation.titleJMIR Public Health Surveillancept_PT
oaire.citation.volume3pt_PT
oaire.fundingStreamFP7
oaire.fundingStreamH2020
oaire.fundingStreamFP7
project.funder.identifierhttp://doi.org/10.13039/501100008530
project.funder.identifierhttp://doi.org/10.13039/501100008530
project.funder.identifierhttp://doi.org/10.13039/501100008530
project.funder.nameEuropean Commission
project.funder.nameEuropean Commission
project.funder.nameEuropean Commission
rcaap.rightsopenAccesspt_PT
rcaap.typearticlept_PT
relation.isProjectOfPublicationedeadcb3-670a-49cb-ab99-df3c531426f6
relation.isProjectOfPublicationd9cb34d3-1dba-414f-865e-a6b14bbe3f27
relation.isProjectOfPublication5a770c0a-4072-40a3-b57c-22d23bbcc1c8
relation.isProjectOfPublication.latestForDiscoveryd9cb34d3-1dba-414f-865e-a6b14bbe3f27

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