Advances in Infectious Disease Surveillance: Climate-Sensitive, Biostatistical, and Simulation Modeling Approaches

A special issue of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease (ISSN 2414-6366). This special issue belongs to the section "Infectious Diseases".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2026 | Viewed by 1297

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Naresuan University, Phitsanulok 65000, Thailand
Interests: infectious disease modeling; climate- and environment-sensitive diseases; spatiotemporal epidemiology; machine learning and time-series forecasting

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In many health systems, large amounts of data are collected every day, but only a small part of these data is used to guide policy and practice. Routine infectious disease surveillance reports, hospital and clinic records, and cross-sectional surveys already contain important information about how infections spread, which populations are at risk, and how well interventions work.

This Special Issue, “Advances in Infectious Disease Surveillance: Climate-Sensitive Biostatistical and Simulation Modeling Approaches”, invites studies that turn such real-world data into evidence for action. We are particularly interested in work that applies spatial-temporal modeling and time-series forecasting to understand disease patterns over time and space, identify hotspots, or generate short- and medium-term predictions.

We welcome contributions that explore climate- and environment-sensitive transmission, including the roles of weather, climate variability, or environmental conditions in shaping infectious disease dynamics. Studies that focus on early outbreak detection, anomaly or signal detection in surveillance data, and simulation and scenario modeling to test alternative control strategies, estimate potential impacts, or reduce cases and mortality are especially encouraged.

Methodologically, the scope includes classical biostatistical models, spatial and spatial-temporal models, machine learning and AI approaches adapted for surveillance and survey data, and compartmental or agent-based simulations. Applied work from diverse settings, particularly low- and middle-income and tropical countries, is highly welcome.

The overall purpose of this Special Issue is to showcase practical, transparent modeling studies that start from routinely collected data and end with clear messages for public health decision-making.

Dr. Sudarat Chadsuthi
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • infectious disease surveillance
  • spatial-temporal modeling
  • early outbreak detection
  • time-series forecasting
  • climate- and environment-sensitive transmission
  • machine learning and AI
  • simulation and scenario modeling
  • public health decision-making

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

20 pages, 3796 KB  
Article
Cytokine-Driven Immune Phenotypes at Delivery as Indicators of Malaria Infection Among Primigravidae in Burkina Faso: An Exploratory Analysis
by Ousmane Traore, Toussaint Rouamba, Serge Henri Zango, Hermann Sorgho, Innocent Valea, Maminata Traore-Coulibaly, Henk D. F. H. Schallig and Halidou Tinto
Trop. Med. Infect. Dis. 2026, 11(3), 80; https://doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed11030080 - 12 Mar 2026
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Abstract
In malaria-endemic regions, women remain vulnerable to Plasmodium falciparum infection at the time of delivery. However, the immunological mechanisms underlying infection-associated inflammation in primigravid women remain poorly characterized. This exploratory study investigated cytokine-based immune profiles reflecting malaria infection status at delivery. We assessed [...] Read more.
In malaria-endemic regions, women remain vulnerable to Plasmodium falciparum infection at the time of delivery. However, the immunological mechanisms underlying infection-associated inflammation in primigravid women remain poorly characterized. This exploratory study investigated cytokine-based immune profiles reflecting malaria infection status at delivery. We assessed 33 primigravid women from Nanoro, Burkina Faso (mean age 19 years; range 18–20.5) at childbirth. Antibody responses to P. falciparum antigens (PfCSP, PfAMA-1, and EBA-175) and plasma levels of cytokines (IL-4, IL-10, IL-6, TNF-α, and IFN-γ) were quantified using enzyme immunoassays. Multivariate analyses, including principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical clustering, identified three distinct immune profiles: (1) a low-inflammatory cluster with reduced IL-6 and TNF-α, (2) a TNF-α–dominant cluster, and (3) a highly pro-inflammatory cluster with elevated IL-6 and TNF-α. Cluster stability was supported by bootstrap analysis (AU ≥ 92%). All women in the most inflammatory cluster were P. falciparum–positive at delivery (Fisher’s exact test, p = 0.04; exploratory association). These cytokine-driven profiles reflect biologically distinct inflammatory states associated with concurrent infection at delivery rather than predictive immune predispositions. The findings underscore the potential of cytokine profiling as a hypothesis-generating tool to guide future longitudinal studies on immune regulation and the postpartum period. Full article
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