Advanced Querying Features for Disease Surveillance Systems

Authors

  • Mohammad Hashemian Johns Hopkins University/ Applied Physics Laboratory

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5210/ojphi.v2i1.2847

Abstract

Most automated disease surveillance systems notify users of increases in the prevalence of reports in syndrome categories and allow users to view patient level data related to those increases. Occasionally, a more dynamic level of control is required to properly detect an emerging disease in a community. Dynamic querying features are invaluable when using existing surveillance systems to investigate outbreaks of newly emergent diseases or to identify cases of reportable diseases within data being captured for surveillance. The objective of the Advance Querying Tool (AQT) is to build a more flexible query interface for most web-based disease surveillance systems. This interface allows users to define and build their query as if they were writing a logical expression for a mathematical computation. The AQT allows users to develop, investigate, save, and share complex case definitions. It provides a flexible interface that accommodates both advanced and novice users, checks the validity of the expression as it is built, and marks errors for users.

Author Biography

Mohammad Hashemian, Johns Hopkins University/ Applied Physics Laboratory

Mohammad R. Hashemain received his degree in Computer Science from Towson University, Baltimore, MD in 1989 and his M.S. in Computer Science from Loyola College, Baltimore, MD in 1995. He has worked at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL) since 1995 as a software engineer and a project manager with broad experience in all phases of database, client server and web development. He has been the lead developer on database and graphical user interface efforts of a wide range of enterprise applications at JHU/APL. He joined the ESSENCE project team in 2006 to assist with new enhancements, particularly interfaces with other systems, process improvements, and user interfaces. He has been working on multiple applications in public health and disease surveillance area.

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Published

2010-04-09

How to Cite

Hashemian, M. (2010). Advanced Querying Features for Disease Surveillance Systems. Online Journal of Public Health Informatics, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.5210/ojphi.v2i1.2847

Issue

Section

Original Articles