Monitoring linked epidemics: the case of tuberculosis and HIV.

<h4>Background</h4>The tight epidemiological coupling between HIV and its associated opportunistic infections leads to challenges and opportunities for disease surveillance.<h4>Methodology/principal findings</h4>We review efforts of WHO and collaborating agencies to track and...

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Main Authors: María S Sánchez, James O Lloyd-Smith, Wayne M Getz
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2010-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0008796&type=printable
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author María S Sánchez
James O Lloyd-Smith
Wayne M Getz
author_facet María S Sánchez
James O Lloyd-Smith
Wayne M Getz
author_sort María S Sánchez
collection DOAJ
description <h4>Background</h4>The tight epidemiological coupling between HIV and its associated opportunistic infections leads to challenges and opportunities for disease surveillance.<h4>Methodology/principal findings</h4>We review efforts of WHO and collaborating agencies to track and fight the TB/HIV co-epidemic, and discuss modeling--via mathematical, statistical, and computational approaches--as a means to identify disease indicators designed to integrate data from linked diseases in order to characterize how co-epidemics change in time and space. We present R(TB/HIV), an index comparing changes in TB incidence relative to HIV prevalence, and use it to identify those sub-Saharan African countries with outlier TB/HIV dynamics. R(TB/HIV) can also be used to predict epidemiological trends, investigate the coherency of reported trends, and cross-check the anticipated impact of public health interventions. Identifying the cause(s) responsible for anomalous R(TB/HIV) values can reveal information crucial to the management of public health.<h4>Conclusions/significance</h4>We frame our suggestions for integrating and analyzing co-epidemic data within the context of global disease monitoring. Used routinely, joint disease indicators such as R(TB/HIV) could greatly enhance the monitoring and evaluation of public health programs.
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spelling doaj-art-0b46cf9924b94f51b09d31b9c9b91c962025-08-20T03:07:40ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032010-01-0151e879610.1371/journal.pone.0008796Monitoring linked epidemics: the case of tuberculosis and HIV.María S SánchezJames O Lloyd-SmithWayne M Getz<h4>Background</h4>The tight epidemiological coupling between HIV and its associated opportunistic infections leads to challenges and opportunities for disease surveillance.<h4>Methodology/principal findings</h4>We review efforts of WHO and collaborating agencies to track and fight the TB/HIV co-epidemic, and discuss modeling--via mathematical, statistical, and computational approaches--as a means to identify disease indicators designed to integrate data from linked diseases in order to characterize how co-epidemics change in time and space. We present R(TB/HIV), an index comparing changes in TB incidence relative to HIV prevalence, and use it to identify those sub-Saharan African countries with outlier TB/HIV dynamics. R(TB/HIV) can also be used to predict epidemiological trends, investigate the coherency of reported trends, and cross-check the anticipated impact of public health interventions. Identifying the cause(s) responsible for anomalous R(TB/HIV) values can reveal information crucial to the management of public health.<h4>Conclusions/significance</h4>We frame our suggestions for integrating and analyzing co-epidemic data within the context of global disease monitoring. Used routinely, joint disease indicators such as R(TB/HIV) could greatly enhance the monitoring and evaluation of public health programs.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0008796&type=printable
spellingShingle María S Sánchez
James O Lloyd-Smith
Wayne M Getz
Monitoring linked epidemics: the case of tuberculosis and HIV.
PLoS ONE
title Monitoring linked epidemics: the case of tuberculosis and HIV.
title_full Monitoring linked epidemics: the case of tuberculosis and HIV.
title_fullStr Monitoring linked epidemics: the case of tuberculosis and HIV.
title_full_unstemmed Monitoring linked epidemics: the case of tuberculosis and HIV.
title_short Monitoring linked epidemics: the case of tuberculosis and HIV.
title_sort monitoring linked epidemics the case of tuberculosis and hiv
url https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0008796&type=printable
work_keys_str_mv AT mariassanchez monitoringlinkedepidemicsthecaseoftuberculosisandhiv
AT jamesolloydsmith monitoringlinkedepidemicsthecaseoftuberculosisandhiv
AT waynemgetz monitoringlinkedepidemicsthecaseoftuberculosisandhiv