Malaria Dashboard: a digital platform for epidemiological data from India (Preprint)
BACKGROUND A digital dashboard on malaria epidemiological data will be an invaluable resource for the research community and the planning of malaria control. OBJECTIVE To develop a digital Malaria Dashboard (MDB) for malaria epidemiological data METHODS We have developed a digital Malaria Dashboard (MDB) using the R software. A total of thirteen different R packages were used in this process, within which shiny and ggplot2 were used more intensively. The MDB is a web application that can work online as well as offline. Presently it is available in offline mode only. The MS Excel file may be used as an input data source and any personal computer may be used for this application. RESULTS The MDB is a highly versatile interface that allows prompt and interactive analysis of malaria epidemiological data. The primary interface of MDB is like a web page that has 14 tabs (or pages), some more tabs may be added or deleted as per requirement and each tab corresponds to a particular analysis. A user may move from one tab to another via tab icons. Each tab thus allows flexibility in correlating various parameters like SPR, API, AFI, ABER, RT, malaria cases, death due to malaria, BSC, and BSE. The data can be analyzed in required granularity (national, state, district), and its enhanced visualization allows for facile usage. Using the MDB, one can quickly assess national or more granular scenarios in a time series manner and then compare the malaria epidemiology in various states and their constituent districts. CONCLUSIONS This MDB is a highly effective digital tool for studying the malaria situation and strategizing for malaria elimination and researcher may use it as a prototype for developing some other dashboards in their own fields.