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What Is
Keeping Public Health Teams Up At Night |
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Author: GIDEON (Global Infectious Disease and Epidemiology Online Network) Overview Public-health teams face rising expectations, data quality challenges, and shrinking budgets. In particular, five issues now loom large:
How do public health teams and epidemiologists navigate these challenges? 1. Misinformation as an operational hazardHealth departments now compete with a flood of misleading content that directly undermines their work. When social media posts promoting unproven treatments go viral faster than official health alerts, it affects whether people seek appropriate care or follow public health guidance. A 2024 review found that post-pandemic misinformation has become so pervasive that monitoring and response must be embedded into routine health operations. The impact extends beyond emergency response. Analysis of nearly 1,000 social media posts about popular medical tests revealed that benefits were mentioned far more often than risks or potential for overdiagnosis. This promotional content, often from influencers with no medical training, drives demand for unnecessary services and creates confusion about evidence-based care. The World Health Organization (WHO) now considers “infodemic” management a core public health function, requiring the same systematic approach as disease surveillance. Their framework includes four pillars: listening to community concerns, promoting understanding of risk, building resilience to misinformation, and engaging communities to take appropriate action. What this means for public healthMisinformation directly interferes with outbreak control when false cures spread faster than prevention messages. Health departments must now budget for social media monitoring just as they do for laboratory testing. Staff need training not just in epidemiology but in rapid response communications. Every delay in correcting false information translates to preventable illness and death. Traditional press releases and weekly reports cannot compete with viral posts that reach millions in hours. Public trust, once lost to misinformation, takes years to rebuild. 2. Climate-related health risksIn October 2025, mosquitoes were discovered in Iceland for the first time in recorded history. The country had been one of only two mosquito-free places on Earth. However, as Iceland warms at four times the global average, even this last refuge has fallen to expanding disease vectors. Climate impacts on health are now measurable and severe. Heat-related mortality among adults over 65 has increased 167% since the 1990s, with 2023 recording the highest levels yet. These deaths translate directly into predictable surges in emergency services and hospital admissions during heat waves. Disease vectors are expanding their reach. The climate conditions suitable for dengue transmission have increased dramatically over the past decade. For Aedes albopictus mosquitoes, suitable areas expanded by 46%, while Aedes aegypti territory grew by 11%. These shifts mean dengue can now spread in new regions and during previously safe seasons. What this means for public health Health departments must prepare for diseases in places they've never been before and heat emergencies outside traditional summer months. Budget cycles based on historical patterns no longer match reality. Communities without experience managing dengue now need diagnostic capacity, clinical guidelines, and vector control programs. Emergency departments designed for typical seasonal variation face overwhelming surges during extended heat events. The populations most vulnerable to the impact of climate change often have the least access to healthcare and preventive services, widening existing health inequities. 3. Fragmented dataToday's outbreak intelligence arrives through a chaotic mix of channels. A cluster of unexplained pneumonia cases might surface first on social media, followed days later by a ProMED alert, then eventually appear in WHO bulletins. Health officials monitor everything from Twitter posts to news reports to faxed laboratory results, each with different verification standards and time lags. The fundamental problem isn't just volume but incompatibility:
This fragmentation paralyzes decision-making. During the critical early hours of an outbreak, epidemiologists spend more time reconciling conflicting reports than analyzing transmission patterns. Some platforms work to consolidate these streams. GIDEON (Global Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology Online Network), for example, maintains a comprehensive database of global health events, and a list of 2-week epidemiological events updated daily with verified information.
What this means for public health Every hour spent verifying duplicate reports is an hour not spent containing disease spread. Border control decisions rely on whatever incomplete information arrives first. Resource allocation becomes guesswork when officials cannot distinguish signal from noise. Most critically, the absence of standardized reporting across systems forces each country to build its own surveillance picture from scratch. While jurisdictions duplicate each other's verification efforts, outbreaks cross borders undetected, turning manageable local clusters into international emergencies. Platforms like GIDEON offer verified and comprehensive infectious disease data in one place, making it easier for officials to get the information they need, faster. 4. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR): a silent pandemicIn 2019, bacterial antimicrobial resistance (AMR) directly caused 1.27 million deaths and contributed to 4.95 million deaths globally. Lower-respiratory infections accounted for the largest share of deaths, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) exemplifies the crisis, killing more than 100,000 people in 2019 alone. But MRSA is just the beginning. In Greece, 59% of Klebsiella pneumoniae infections now resist carbapenems, once considered last-resort antibiotics. In Italy, the crisis has deepened: among patients whose infections already resist carbapenems, 43% also resist colistin. Since colistin was the final fallback drug, when both drugs fail, no available antibiotics may work. Data on bacterial AMR reveals an evolving threat:
Future projections paint a dire picture: 300 million premature deaths over the next 35 years and global economic losses of 60-100 trillion USD by 2050. Additionally, a WHO 2025 report captured 23 million lab-confirmed infections across 104 countries. One in six infections showed resistance to standard antibiotics. Resistance increased in over 40% of pathogen-antibiotic combinations since 2018. What this means for public healthStandard treatment protocols increasingly fail because they rely on outdated resistance patterns. Patients require longer hospitalizations and more expensive second-line drugs. Outbreaks once routine to manage now strain resources. Resistant strains spread more easily and require intensive containment efforts. When common antibiotics fail, doctors turn to toxic older drugs or experimental treatments. Even these options are rapidly disappearing. 5. Preparedness, governance, and equitable accessThe global health security framework shifted significantly in 2024. WHO Member States adopted critical amendments to the International Health Regulations that took effect in September 2025, emphasizing information sharing, financing mechanisms, and health equity. Yet implementation remains uneven. Some countries have filed reservations or outright rejections, creating a patchwork of compliance that undermines coordinated response. The numbers reveal why preparedness fails. WHO data show that in 2021:
Preparedness cannot exist without basic healthcare infrastructure. Countries with weak primary care systems, understaffed laboratories, and fragile supply chains cannot suddenly scale up during emergencies. The COVID-19 pandemic proved this definitively. Nations with robust primary care detected cases earlier, traced contacts more effectively, and distributed vaccines more equitably. Comprehensive infectious disease databases like GIDEON, which track disease patterns across 230+ countries and territories with daily updates help health departments understand their vulnerabilities before crises hit. With outbreak data spanning from 1338 to present, epidemiologists can identify historical patterns of disease emergence in their regions and prepare for similar threats. What this means for public healthOutbreak preparedness built on inequitable foundations will inevitably collapse under pressure. The communities most vulnerable to disease outbreaks are precisely those excluded from basic healthcare. When surveillance systems miss these populations, diseases spread undetected until they reach wealthier areas with better healthcare access. By then, containment becomes exponentially more difficult and expensive. True preparedness requires closing equity gaps before emergencies strike, not promising to address them during crisis response when resources are already stretched beyond capacity. How GIDEON helps address public health challengesTackling today’s complex health threats is everyone’s problem. Government agencies, clinicians, educators and researchers all play a part. For over 30 years, GIDEON (Global Infectious Disease and Epidemiology Online Network) has been a vital resource for public health professionals, educators, researchers, clinicians, and epidemiologists. It provides up-to-date reliable data, evidence-based updates, diagnostic tools, therapeutic data, and data visualization features to help turn infectious disease trends into actionable insights. GIDEON exists to advance the global effort against Infectious Disease. Here’s how. 1. Countering misinformation with verified dataIn an age where false information spreads faster than official updates, GIDEON serves as a verified, evidence-based counterweight. Its continuously updated database consolidates information from more than 20,000 trusted sources, including ministries of health, peer-reviewed journals, and international surveillance systems. Each entry undergoes an editorial review by infectious disease specialists to ensure accuracy and relevance. GIDEON delivers consistent, evidence-based outbreak data and curated summaries, helping health departments communicate clearly and in a timely manner.
2. Mapping disease outbreaksAs climate change drives new disease patterns, GIDEON allows users to observe these shifts through frequently updated visuals. Interactive maps and customizable epidemiological charts can help officials analyze trends and compare them to changes in temperature or rainfall. This can shed light on connections with vector- and water-borne disease outbreaks. Health departments can compare regional data, identify potential hotspots, and adapt preparedness plans as environmental conditions evolve. This way, GIDEON helps officials anticipate disease emergence in new regions. 3. Bringing structure to fragmented data streamsOutbreak information today arrives through through multiple, often disconnected sources. GIDEON integrates these verified reports into one comprehensive resource. Instead of piecing together social-media mentions, ProMED alerts, and health-ministry bulletins, users can access curated, cross-checked data through a single platform. Plus, GIDEON’s Epidemiological Events page provides a two-week rolling summary of global health reports updated frequently, while historical records span centuries. This structure saves time, prevents duplication, and gives officials confidence that they are working with validated and timely information. 4. Comprehensive disease intelligenceUnderstanding infectious disease patterns requires access to integrated data on diseases, pathogens, and therapeutic options. GIDEON consolidates these critical elements into a single platform for evidence-based clinical and epidemiological decision-making.
By bringing together pathogen profiles, therapeutic data, and disease patterns in one platform, GIDEON streamlines how healthcare teams access critical information. With GIDEON, users get credible infectious disease data at their fingertips to help develop public health strategies, clinical, epidemiological, and public health needs. 5. Strengthening preparedness and equityGIDEON’s global datasets offer an evidence base for assessing outbreak preparedness and response capacity. By visualizing disease trends and case distribution across 230 countries and territories, agencies can identify surveillance gaps before they become crises. Outbreak records span from 1338 to the present, offering historical depth to modern risk assessment. Final thoughtsPublic health has always faced complex threats, but today's landscape brings unique challenges:
These challenges demand new approaches. Verified databases now organize what once took days to cross-check. Historical outbreak data reveals patterns that help predict future risks. Global networks enable rapid information sharing between countries facing similar threats. The transformation is already underway. Platforms like GIDEON convert centuries of outbreak data into practical intelligence for today's decisions. Expert verification promotes reliability. Regular updates keep pace with evolving situations. Health departments that once worked in isolation now benefit from collective knowledge. The path forward is becoming clearer. When public health officials can access comprehensive data quickly, compare patterns across regions, and base decisions on evidence rather than assumptions, they shift from reactive to proactive response. Resources flow where data shows they're needed most. The scale and speed of modern threats require tools that match their complexity. Fortunately, such tools now exist and continue to improve. By embracing verified data and global collaboration, public health teams can anticipate emerging threats rather than chase them. The future of public health depends on making smart use of these advances today. ■ |
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