Joseph S Lombardo1, H Burkom, J Pavlin. 1. Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins Rd, Laurel, MD 20723, USA. Joe.Lombardo@jhuapl.edu
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: The Electronic Surveillance System for the Early Notification of Community-Based Epidemics (ESSENCE II) is a prototype syndromic surveillance system for capturing and analyzing public health indicators for early detection of disease outbreaks. OBJECTIVES: This paper presents a preliminary evaluation of ESSENCE II according to a CDC framework for evaluating syndromic surveillance systems. METHODS: Each major topic of the framework is addressed in this assessment of ESSENCE II performance. RESULTS: ESSENCE captures data in multiple formats, parses text strings into syndrome groupings, and applies multiple temporal and spatio-temporal outbreak-detection algorithms. During a recent DARPA evaluation exercise, ESSENCE algorithms detected a set of health events with a median delay of 1 day after the earliest possible detection opportunity. CONCLUSIONS: ESSENCE II has provided excellent performance with respect to the framework and has proven to be a useful and cost-effective approach for providing early detection of health events.
INTRODUCTION: The Electronic Surveillance System for the Early Notification of Community-Based Epidemics (ESSENCE II) is a prototype syndromic surveillance system for capturing and analyzing public health indicators for early detection of disease outbreaks. OBJECTIVES: This paper presents a preliminary evaluation of ESSENCE II according to a CDC framework for evaluating syndromic surveillance systems. METHODS: Each major topic of the framework is addressed in this assessment of ESSENCE II performance. RESULTS: ESSENCE captures data in multiple formats, parses text strings into syndrome groupings, and applies multiple temporal and spatio-temporal outbreak-detection algorithms. During a recent DARPA evaluation exercise, ESSENCE algorithms detected a set of health events with a median delay of 1 day after the earliest possible detection opportunity. CONCLUSIONS: ESSENCE II has provided excellent performance with respect to the framework and has proven to be a useful and cost-effective approach for providing early detection of health events.
Authors: Yarden Livnat; Per Gesteland; Jose Benuzillo; Warren Pettey; Dan Bolton; Frank Drews; Heidi Kramer; Matthew Samore Journal: AMIA Annu Symp Proc Date: 2010-11-13
Authors: Joseph S Lombardo; Nedra Garrett; Wayne Loschen; Richard Seagraves; Barbara Nichols; Steven Babin Journal: Online J Public Health Inform Date: 2009-12-10