PICAT – Integrated platform for the control of aboviruses in Catalonia

Emerging arbovirosis (Zika, dengue, Chikungunya) have acquired a significant importance in recent years. The favorable weather conditions, the presence of the transmitting vectors and the numerous international trips, make the Mediterranean Sea, and especially Catalonia, an area of ​​high risk for the introduction of these diseases.

Centralized surveillance systems and public health agencies with limited resources may not be sufficiently operational to give an adequate response to a new threat of this type.

The PICAT platform aims to integrate all the relevant information that can determine the appearance of autochthonous cases in our territory and create a network with the main agents involved (primary care, specialized centers, advanced research centers, public health agencies and civil society) . Through the development of an innovative system of data management and advanced software, geolocated data analysis and visualization tools (including simulations) will be generated in interactive mode that will help predict the potential risk of epidemics and the dynamics of infections , helping to optimize epidemiological control interventions.

In addition, we incorporate citizens as an active source of information and agents for the control of epidemiological determinants, contributing to a nodel change in decision-making.

Finally, by improving the diagnostic capacity of the reference laboratories and training activities of both healthcare professionals and society, strengthens the capacity to respond to emerging diseases.

Members of PICAT:

        logo-creaf