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Abstract

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) presented a unique opportunity for the World Health Organization (WHO) to utilise public health intelligence (PHI) for pandemic response. WHO systematically captured mainly unstructured information (e.g. media articles, listservs, community-based reporting) for public health intelligence purposes. WHO used the Epidemic Intelligence from Open Sources (EIOS) system as one of the information sources for PHI. The processes and scope for PHI were adapted as the pandemic evolved and tailored to regional response needs. During the early months of the pandemic, media monitoring complemented official case and death reporting through the International Health Regulations mechanism and triggered alerts. As the pandemic evolved, PHI activities prioritised identifying epidemiological trends to supplement the information available through indicator-based surveillance reported to WHO. The PHI scope evolved over time to include vaccine introduction, emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants, unusual clinical manifestations and upsurges in cases, hospitalisation and death incidences at subnational levels. Triaging the unprecedented high volume of information challenged surveillance activities but was managed by collaborative information sharing. The evolution of PHI activities using multiple sources in WHO’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic illustrates the future directions in which PHI methodologies could be developed and used.

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/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2022.27.49.2200142
2022-12-08
2024-12-31
/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2022.27.49.2200142
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The World Health Organization’s public health intelligence activities during the COVID-19 pandemic response, December 2019 to December 2021
<p class="citation"> <span>Citation style for this article:</span> <span class="meta-value authors"> <a href="/search?value1=Eri+Togami&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Togami Eri</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Bridget+Griffith&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Griffith Bridget</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Mostafa+Mahran&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Mahran Mostafa</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Ingrid+H+Nezu&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Nezu Ingrid H</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Bernadette+B+Mirembe&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Mirembe Bernadette B</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Kaja+Kaasik-Aaslav&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Kaasik-Aaslav Kaja</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Lidia+Alexandrova-Ezerska&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Alexandrova-Ezerska Lidia</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Amarnath+Babu&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Babu Amarnath</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Tika+Ram+Sedai&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Sedai Tika Ram</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Masaya+Kato&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Kato Masaya</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Heidi+Abbas&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Abbas Heidi</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Mahmoud+Sadek&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Sadek Mahmoud</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Pierre+Nabeth&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Nabeth Pierre</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Lauren+E.+MacDonald&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">MacDonald Lauren E.</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Luc%C3%ADa+Hern%C3%A1ndez-Garc%C3%ADa&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Hernández-García Lucía</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Jeffrey+Pires&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Pires Jeffrey</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Stefany+Ildefonso&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Ildefonso Stefany</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Mary+Stephen&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Stephen Mary</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Theresa+Min-Hyung+Lee&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Lee Theresa Min-Hyung</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Benido+Impouma&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Impouma Benido</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Tamano+Matsui&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Matsui Tamano</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Sangjun+Moon&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Moon Sangjun</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Manilay+Phenxay&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Phenxay Manilay</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Viema+Biaukula&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Biaukula Viema</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Ariuntuya+Ochirpurev&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Ochirpurev Ariuntuya</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Johannes+Schnitzler&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Schnitzler Johannes</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Julie+Fontaine&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Fontaine Julie</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Irena+Djordjevic&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Djordjevic Irena</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Hannah+Brindle&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Brindle Hannah</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Jessica+Kolmer&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Kolmer Jessica</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Martina+McMenamin&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">McMenamin Martina</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Emilie+Peron&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Peron Emilie</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Zyleen+Kassamali&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Kassamali Zyleen</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Blanche+Greene-Cramer&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Greene-Cramer Blanche</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Esther+Hamblion&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Hamblion Esther</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Philip+Abdelmalik&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Abdelmalik Philip</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Boris+I+Pavlin&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Pavlin Boris I</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Abdi+Rahman+Mahamud&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Mahamud Abdi Rahman</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Oliver+Morgan&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Morgan Oliver</a></span>. The World Health Organization’s public health intelligence activities during the COVID-19 pandemic response, December 2019 to December 2021. <a href="/content/ecdc">Euro Surveill.</a> 2022;27(49):pii=2200142. <a href="https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2022.27.49.2200142" title="doi link" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2022.27.49.2200142</a> <span class="ES_Article_citation"> <span class="generated">Received</span>: 02 Feb 2022;&nbsp;&nbsp; <span class="generated">Accepted</span>: 14 Jul 2022 </span> </p>
/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2022.27.49.2200142
/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2022.27.49.2200142
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