Publications by authors named "Ansumana Kamara"
Article Synopsis
- * Analyzing the Viral Hemorrhagic Fever database, researchers found that the most frequent surname appeared in 18.2% of records, and a small number of names constituted a large portion of the data, complicating public health efforts.
- * Recommendations include using algorithms to correct inconsistent spelling and incorporating other identifying variables besides names to enhance the effectiveness of public health databases and contact tracing efforts.
Article Synopsis
- - In 2015, the Sierra Leone Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS) and CDC created the Sierra Leone Ebola Database (SLED) to help families find graves of loved ones lost during the Ebola epidemic and to support epidemiological research
- - The Family Reunification Program, developed by MoHS, CDC, and other partners, trained family liaisons to protect sensitive information while assisting families in locating graves
- - The Program's ongoing success demonstrates that the emotional impact of losing a loved one remains significant even five years later, and its model can be applied to future public health emergencies like COVID-19.
Article Synopsis
- The Sierra Leone Ebola Database (SLED) was developed by the Sierra Leone Ministry of Health and the CDC to compile extensive data collected during the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak, focusing on burial records, case investigations, and health management.
- The project's main goals include helping families find the locations of graves and creating a resource for epidemiological research in public health.
- The process involved meticulous data processing and tracking to ensure the data's accuracy and usability for both humanitarian and research purposes.
Article Synopsis
- Organizations collected various data during the 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone from different sources, such as hot line calls, surveillance, lab tests, clinical information, and burial records.
- After the epidemic, the Sierra Leone Ministry of Health and the CDC collaborated to merge these separate records into a unified Sierra Leone Ebola Database.
- This database serves as a valuable resource for postepidemic analysis and research, helping to improve outbreak response strategies and assisting families in finding the graves of loved ones lost during the epidemic.*
The Global Health Security Agenda aims to improve countries' ability to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease threats by building or strengthening core capacities required by the International Health Regulations (2005). One of those capacities is the development of surveillance systems to rapidly detect and respond to occurrences of diseases with epidemic potential. Since 2015, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has worked with partners in Sierra Leone to assist the Ministry of Health and Sanitation in developing an Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) system.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF