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review article

Precision Global Health - The case of Ebola: a scoping review

Bempong, Nefti-Eboni
•
De Castaneda, Rafael Ruiz
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Schutte, Stefanie
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June 1, 2019
Journal Of Global Health

Background The 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak across West Africa was devastating, acting not only as a wake-up call for the global health community, but also as a catalyst for innovative change and global action. Improved infectious disease monitoring is the stepping-stone toward better disease prevention and control efforts, and recent research has revealed the potential of digital technologies to transform the field of global health. This scoping review aimed to identify which digital technologies may improve disease prevention and control, with regard to the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Methods A search was conducted on PubMed, EBSCOhost. and Web of Science, with search dates ranging from 2013 (01/01/2013) - 2017 (13/06/2017). Data was extracted into a summative table and data synthesized through grouping digital technology domains, using narrative and graphical methods. Findings The scoping review identified 82 full-text articles, and revealed big data (48%, n=39) and modeling (26%, n= 21) technologies to be the most utilized within the Ebola outbreak. Digital technologies were mainly used for surveillance purposes (90%, n =74), and key challenges were related to scalability and misinformation from social media platforms. Interpretation Digital technologies demonstrated their potential during the Ebola outbreak through: more rapid diagnostics, more precise predictions and estimations, increased knowledge transfer, and raising situational awareness through mHealth and social media platforms such as Twitter and Weibo. However, better integration into both citizen and health professionals' communities is necessary to maximise the potential of digital technologies.

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Type
review article
DOI
10.7189/jogh.09.010404
Web of Science ID

WOS:000476640500029

Author(s)
Bempong, Nefti-Eboni
De Castaneda, Rafael Ruiz
Schutte, Stefanie
Bolon, Isabelle
Keiser, Olivia
Escher, Gerard  
Flahault, Antoine
Date Issued

2019-06-01

Published in
Journal Of Global Health
Volume

9

Issue

1

Article Number

010404

Subjects

Public, Environmental & Occupational Health

•

Public, Environmental & Occupational Health

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social media

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virus disease

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west-africa

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hemorrhagic-fever

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real-time

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outbreak

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transmission

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information

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internet

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care

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
NON-ACADEMIC  
Available on Infoscience
August 8, 2019
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/159611
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