In an increasingly connected world, information regarding the contagion and spread of COVID-19 has been an important weapon to enable better coping with the disease. The use of information technology can assist in the prevention, care, and monitoring of patients. In addition, remote service using applications avoids the overload of health centers and contagion. This research reports the experience of a research project initiated in Brazil at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, with the objective of developing an application and big data for the new coronavirus in a public health clinic using information management and One Health concepts. Initially, the application requirements were defined through interviews with users and health professionals. The partial results obtained so far demonstrate improvements in the different processes of the health center with the use of the application. The use of big data for the analysis of information makes it possible to define better health policies for the population in a more precise way and in a shorter time.
TopIntroduction
The United Nations (UN), in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted and proclaimed in 1948, social progress and better living conditions in a broader freedom, as fundamental human rights, in dignity value of the human person and the equal rights of men and women. In this context, people have the right to life, freedom and personal security (United Nations, 1948). The purpose to study and promote the right to life, consequently to health, in 2007, the concept of One Health emerges, which brings an approach collaborative, multisectoral and transdisciplinary to achieve ideal health results, recognizing the interconnection between people, animals, plants and their shared environment. Thus, it is necessary to think about new strategies and forms of research, development, and innovation in the 'bridges' between human, animal, and ecosystem health systems, to reduce emergency risks and the spread of infectious diseases.
The world faced the Covid-19 pandemic, declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11, 2020. This new Coronavirus-derived pandemic was started by an outbreak in China in December 2019 and quickly spread throughout the world. After spreading to several countries in Asia, Europe, North America, the pandemic reaches South America and Brazil. To break the disease, it is vitally important to have accurate information for decision-making by authorities around the world (Who, 2020). To obtain this information, a large amount of data on the disease is generated daily by computer systems from around the world. This great mass of information needs an adequate organization for its understanding and decision making.
New technologies have been developed for the processing and analysis of large amounts of data, one of the most used today is the Big Data, which refers to the third generation of the information age with the characteristics of storing a large amount of information and its availability in an aggregated and organized manner, meeting the criteria of the 5Vs: Volume, Variety and Speed, Veracity and Value (Magalhães et. al., 2020). However, it is also important the need for more detailed information, aiming to deepen the analysis of data within a territory regarding the conditions of sustainability and social conditions. One Health refers to a unified view of health considering social, environmental, and animal health aspects as whole that must be analyzed (Zingsstaget et. al., 2011).
This chapter describes the case study of the project construction of Big Data analysis carried out in two stages using an electronic patient record application that occurred during the Covid pandemic 19 at the Germano Sinval de Faria Health Center (CSEGSF), a Family Health Unit (FHU). The Unit is located at the National School of Public Health (ENSP) of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) in Brazil, in the north area of Rio de Janeiro served by the Unified Public Health System(SUS). The target audience is the population of Manguinhos of approximately 40,000 people, located around Fiocruz, which has one of the lowest Human Development Indexes in the city.
In a first stage, an application was built, called “InfoSaude”, for Primary Care users to assist patients in the prevention, care, and monitoring of Covid 19. Prevention was carried out through messages sent by WhatsApp® to residents, through the application. The service was carried out in person at the Family Health Unit (FHU) and the monitoring took place through the telephone contact of the health professionals. In the service, patients answered questions about the symptoms of the disease (fever, cough, difficulty breathing, chest pain, among others), in addition to information regarding risk factors (respiratory diseases, diabetes, hypertension and others). The information collected by the application allowed health professionals to guide patients on the procedures that must be followed, as well as to assess the need for tests to confirm COVID-19.