HSE HPSC launches Ireland’s first data hub for disease outbreaks
Available at outbreaks.hpsc.ie
Interactive access to the latest statistics for all notifiable infectious disease outbreaks in Ireland is available on a new data hub.
The HSE’s Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) new data hub, displays, for the first time, data on outbreaks for all infectious diseases in Ireland. It also makes it easy to explore the data over a five year period.
Outbreaks can be big or small; simple or complex; local, national or international. This hub captures all that information and more and delivers it in an integrated, accessible and user-friendly format.
What does the new data hub deliver?
- It changes the way HPSC displays data to stakeholders and the public.
- It improves how data is displayed and gives users access to underlying aggregate data.
- It includes features such as statistical measures to compare most recent outbreaks data with earlier data and has a filtering capacity to display data by disease group.
Dr Patricia Garvey, Principal Epidemiologist, Health Protection Surveillance Centre said: “The new data dashboards display data on trends and key epidemiological features for infectious disease outbreaks reported in Ireland.
This new tool has been designed to benefit users by including new epidemiological information not previously available in HPSC’s weekly infectious disease outbreak reports and to promote citizen epidemiology. The Data Hub is a valuable resource for anyone working on or interested in the epidemiology of infectious diseases in Ireland.”
Welcoming the data hub, Dr Victor Aiyedun, Clinical Lead, Health Protection Surveillance Centre said: “The data hub is yet another advancement in the way HPSC displays the data we collect. It is an extra tool to use alongside HPSC’s existing outputs. It will inform and guide health service prevention, preparedness and response to protect the Irish public from infectious disease outbreaks.
The National Notified Outbreaks data hub has come about through collaborative work between HPSC and People and Place Ltd. Other key stakeholders include laboratories and clinicians who notify infectious disease cases and Departments of Public Health who manage the surveillance system at regional level.”
The data hub is available at outbreaks.hpsc.ie