Applying infectious disease forecasting to public health: a path forward using influenza forecasting examples

Infectious disease forecasting aims to predict characteristics of both seasonal epidemics and future pandemics. Accurate and timely infectious disease forecasts could aid public health responses by informing key preparation and mitigation efforts. For forecasts to be fully integrated into public hea...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	BMC public health Vol. 19; no. 1; p. 1659
Main Authors:	Lutz, Chelsea S, Huynh, Mimi P, Schroeder, Monica, Anyatonwu, Sophia, Dahlgren, F Scott, Danyluk, Gregory, Fernandez, Danielle, Greene, Sharon K, Kipshidze, Nodar, Liu, Leann, Mgbere, Osaro, McHugh, Lisa A, Myers, Jennifer F, Siniscalchi, Alan, Sullivan, Amy D, West, Nicole, Johansson, Michael A, Biggerstaff, Matthew
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	England BioMed Central Ltd 10-12-2019 BioMed Central BMC
Subjects:	BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES Best practices Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S Collaboration Communicable diseases Communicable Diseases - epidemiology Communication Debate Decision making Disease control Disease outbreaks Disease prevention Emergency preparedness Epidemics Forecast Forecasting Health surveillance Humans Illnesses Infectious disease Infectious diseases Influenza Influenza, Human - epidemiology Medical research Models, Theoretical pandemic Pandemics Public Health Public health movements Researchers Seasons Short term United States - epidemiology United States United States > US Infectious disease Decision making Disease outbreaks Influenza Forecast Pandemic Emergency preparedness
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Summary:	Infectious disease forecasting aims to predict characteristics of both seasonal epidemics and future pandemics. Accurate and timely infectious disease forecasts could aid public health responses by informing key preparation and mitigation efforts. For forecasts to be fully integrated into public health decision-making, federal, state, and local officials must understand how forecasts were made, how to interpret forecasts, and how well the forecasts have performed in the past. Since the 2013-14 influenza season, the Influenza Division at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has hosted collaborative challenges to forecast the timing, intensity, and short-term trajectory of influenza-like illness in the United States. Additional efforts to advance forecasting science have included influenza initiatives focused on state-level and hospitalization forecasts, as well as other infectious diseases. Using CDC influenza forecasting challenges as an example, this paper provides an overview of infectious disease forecasting; applications of forecasting to public health; and current work to develop best practices for forecast methodology, applications, and communication. These efforts, along with other infectious disease forecasting initiatives, can foster the continued advancement of forecasting science.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 SC0014664; NU38OT000297–01-00 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) USDOE Office of Science (SC)
ISSN:	1471-2458 1471-2458
DOI:	10.1186/s12889-019-7966-8