TB Patrol

A Disease Surveillance and Monitoring

Platform for Tuberculosis in the Philippines

MSYS 11 6 - A : Abaya and Calderon

What is tuberculosis?
A bacterial infection spread through
inhaling tiny droplets from coughs or
sneezes of an infected person.
It mainly affects the lungs but can also
affect other parts of the body such as the
brain, kidneys, or the spine.
 What is tuberculosis?
Symptoms include:

coughing for 3 or more weeks chest pains/ pains with unintentional

coughing up blood or mucus breathing/coughing weight loss

fatigue night sweats chills fever

Why tuberculosis?
It has been recognized that in
failing to find and treat one TB
case, it may spread the infection
towards another 10 people.
 Why tuberculosis?
In 2019, the DOH vowed to treat
2.5 million tuberculosis patients by
2022 to end the continuing burden
More improvement towards
of the disease in the country.
monitoring, testing and treating
However because of the pandemic, the must be done to reach the goal set.
country saw the second-largest
decrease of annual notifications
between 2019-2020 with a 37% drop. As of now, based on data trends, the
Philippines will miss its commitment
The pandemic with its restrictions has by almost 300,000 cases.
deterred many of the department’s
efforts in improving TB detection and
treatment strategies.
Why tuberculosis?
Various reports from the Philippine Statistical Authority
stated that tuberculosis is still one of the top 20 leading
causes of death in the country for the year 2021.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO),

tuberculosis is a highly treatable disease but more than 70
Filipinos lose their lives to it every day.

Back in March 2019, WHO reported that about 1 million

Filipinos have active tuberculosis, making the Philippines the
country with the third highest tuberculosis prevalence in the
world.
 Potential Sources of Data for TB Patrol
Philippines Tuberculosis WHO Global Tuberculosis Philippine Statistics
Dashboard Data Authority Database Other FHIR Servers
Can be accessed here: Can be accessed here:
Can be accessed here: For data from other systems
https://www.stoptb.org/stati https://www.who.int/teams/gl
https://openstat.psa.gov.ph/ used in the Philippines like
c_pages/PHL_Dashboard.ht obal-tuberculosis-
For health and non-health FASSSTER than CoVID-19 and
ml programme/data
information other FASSSTER versions
For TB cases information in For TB country, regional, and
the Philippines global profiles
For TB indicators and trends
Features of TB Patrol
 TOOLS FOR ACTIVE MONITORING OF
CURRENT SYMPTOMS AND CASES OF TB
Tracker Data Model GIS Visualization tool
As tuberculosis is a very contagious disease, it is crucial to maintain track The geographic information systems mapping will allow individuals to
of every case and conduct follow-up checks on them and anyone they visualize the case statistics of tuberculosis across the Philippines.
may have come into contact with within the preceding days of diagnosis. The design may change depending on the specified indicator
The digital tool allows to enroll and track suspected cases by (number of cases, severity, recoveries, etc.)
capturing symptoms, risk factors, and exposure. The map can assist policymakers in deciding in which community or
It may even be paired with health facilities to capture lab data on province to give more services or provide greater protections for the
cases. people who reside there.
Using this approach, health administrators and policymakers will be able The map can also assist health care administrators in focusing their
to identify the most prevalent symptoms, demographics, and risk factors efforts and allocating their resources to ensure that the facilities in
& exposure. These indicators can lead them to create better interventions the affected area are stocked with the correct medication and that
in preventing the spread of the disease. further testing is conducted to ensure that no TB cases are missed.

Case Statistics
An overview of all collated statistics of the following:
confirmed cases, active cases, different degrees of cases, recovered
demographics of those affected (age, sex, barangay, city)
This can be utilized by both health administrators and policymakers to examine the daily incidence of tuberculosis in the
country and take the required steps to combat and prevent the disease's spread, as well as improve treatment efforts.
 TOOLS FOR ANALYSIS OF TRENDS
AND TRAJECTORY OF TB
Growth Rate Positivity Rate
Growth rate essentially provides a view of the trajectory of new Positivity rate denotes the current level of transmission of tuberculosis and
tuberculosis cases over time in a specific area. the adequacy of the number of tests performed in a specific area.
The data and the graphs that it provides can help our health This is highly crucial during outbreaks of tuberculosis in an area since
administrators and decision-makers assess the effectiveness of fast, accurate, and reliable testing is needed.
the current interventions in place in mitigating the transmission It can aid our administrators and decision-makers in evaluating both the
and spread of tuberculosis. effect of the current interventions to curb the spread of tuberculosis and
Accordingly, growth rate can spur corresponding changes and the testing efforts to detect it.
improvements in the current strategies to fight tuberculosis. In doing so, strategies in testing and mitigating tuberculosis can be
reconfigured which can both contribute in defeating the said disease.

Tuberculosis deaths over time

This shows the number of lives lost due to tuberculosis in an area over time.
Tuberculosis deaths over time can provide a clear picture to our health administrators on the effectiveness of the strategies to
stop tuberculosis transmissions, services to cure patients with tuberculosis, and even interventions that address the factors that
prevent tuberculosis patients receiving quality treatment for their disease like poverty.
With the help of this tool, our decision-makers can formulate more holistic policies and laws that prevent and cure tuberculosis,
with consideration to its social determinants.
 TOOLS FOR PREDICTION AND
DISEASE MODELING OF TB
FASSSTER SEIR Model
Tuberculosis has disease progressions characterized by various symptoms and conditions as specified by the US Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention.
The FASSSTER SEIR Model can show tuberculosis case projections over time in a graph for all or select region/s based on the current data
and trends of tuberculosis cases.
It can even show various future scenarios of the projected tuberculosis cases depending on varying transmission reduction levels, among
other things.
Due to these, the FASSSTER SEIR Model can help our health administrators and decision-makers see the differing perspectives that
can happen in the future.
In doing so, they can formulate corresponding policies and strategies that address each possible future scenario to avoid being caught
off guard and risk the health of the entire population.

CS156 Model
Developed by Caltech, the model is an AI-Driven system that makes predictions based on observations of what is actually happening, possibly
discovering patterns hidden in data humans alone might not be recognized.
The CS156 model can predict how various interventions made by health administrators and policymakers affect control of the spread of the disease.
This will enable both health administrators and decision-makers to evaluate public health policies in real time and make appropriate adjustments.
Eventually, through the model, they may identify patterns and signs of effective interventions for preventing the spread of tuberculosis, which
could lead to its implementation in further communities.
References
CDC. (2019). Testing & Diagnosis. CDC. https://www.cdc.gov/tb/topic/testing/default.htm

CDC. (2020). Fact Sheets | General | Tuberculosis: General Information | TB | CDC. Www.cdc.gov.
https://www.cdc.gov/tb/publications/factsheets/general/tb.htm#:~:text=Tuberculosis%20(TB)%20is%20a%20disease

Corder, K. (2020). GIS Mapping Visualizes Real-Time Data on Coronavirus Outbreak. University of Northern Colorado News. https://www.unco.edu/news/articles/gis-mapping-visualizes-data-
coronavirus.aspx

Department of Health. (2020). Decline in Reported TB Cases an Effect of the Pandemic. Doh.gov.ph. https://doh.gov.ph/press-release/DECLINE-IN-REPORTED-TB-CASES-AN-EFFECT-OF-THE-
PANDEMIC-DOH#:~:text=By%20the%20end%20of%202022

Department of Health. (2022). DOH Reports 18% Increase in TB Treatment Amid Pandemic, Seeks More Funds to End TB. Doh.gov.ph. https://doh.gov.ph/Press-release/DOH-REPORTS-18%25-
INCREASE-IN-TB-TREATMENT-AMID-PANDEMIC-SEEKS-MORE-FUNDS-TO-END-TB

Kabagani, L. J. (2022). Heart disease remains top cause of death in PH in 2021: PSA. Philippine News Agency.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1168439#:~:text=MANILA%20%E2%80%93%20Despite%20the%20deadly%20coronavirus

Mayo Clinic. (2021). Tuberculosis - Symptoms and causes. Mayo Clinic; Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/tuberculosis/symptoms-causes/syc-20351250

Mishra, U. (2017). Tracking TB becomes simpler with mobile phone. Www.downtoearth.org.in. https://www.downtoearth.org.in/blog/health/tracking-tb-becomes-simpler-with-mobile-phone-57755

Montemayor, Ma. T. (2019). DOH to treat 2.5M TB patients by 2022. Philippine News Agency. https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1078124

NHS. (2019). Overview - Tuberculosis (TB). NHS; NHS. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/tuberculosis-tb/

Perkins, R. (2020). Caltech’s AI-Driven COVID-19 Model Routinely Outperforms Competitors. California Institute of Technology. https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/caltechs-ai-driven-covid-19-model-
routinely-outperforms-competitors

Philippine Statistics Authority. (2021). Causes of Deaths in the Philippines (Preliminary): January to June 2021. Psa.gov.ph. https://psa.gov.ph/content/causes-deaths-philippines-preliminary-january-june-
2021

World Health Organization. (2019). It’s time to end TB in the Philippines. Www.who.int. https://www.who.int/philippines/news/commentaries/detail/it-s-time-to-end-tb-in-the-philippines
TB Patrol
A Disease Surveillance and Monitoring
Platform for Tuberculosis in the Philippines

MSYS 11 6 - A : Abaya and Calderon