Digital Epidemiology: A review

TL;DR

Digital epidemiology leverages big data, social patterns, and computational models to enhance real-time disease tracking, understanding, and intervention strategies, transforming epidemic control and prevention.

Contribution

This review synthesizes current research in digital epidemiology, highlighting new data sources, modeling approaches, and operational frameworks for epidemic management.

Findings

Integration of multi-source data improves real-time disease mapping.

Models based on human networks enhance contact tracing accuracy.

Digital tools enable dynamic assessment of intervention strategies.

Abstract

The epidemiology has recently witnessed great advances based on computational models. Its scope and impact are getting wider thanks to the new data sources feeding analytical frameworks and models. Besides traditional variables considered in epidemiology, large-scale social patterns can be now integrated in real time with multi-source data bridging the gap between different scales. In a hyper-connected world, models and analysis of interactions and social behaviors are key to understand and stop outbreaks. Big Data along with apps are enabling for validating and refining models with real world data at scale, as well as new applications and frameworks to map and track diseases in real time or optimize the necessary resources and interventions such as testing and vaccination strategies. Digital epidemiology is positioning as a discipline necessary to control epidemics and implement actionable protocols and policies. In this review we address the research areas configuring current digital epidemiology: transmission and propagation models and descriptions based on human networks and contact tracing, mobility analysis and spatio-temporal propagation of infectious diseases and infodemics that comprises the study of information and knowledge propagation. Digital epidemiology has the potential to create new operational mechanisms for prevention and mitigation, monitoring of the evolution of epidemics, assessing their impact and evaluating the pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical measures to fight the outbreaks. Epidemics have to be approached from the lens of complexity as they require systemic solutions. Opportunities and challenges to tackle epidemics more effectively and with a human-centered vision are here discussed.