Author:
Gabriel Ledezma Acevedo Juan
Abstract
When the epidemiologists need to analyze the distribution of cases in a study or the outbreak trend of cases over time, usually they use graphics for representing the magnitude over time (by incidence and prevalence), tables for describing the variables of the affected people (by race, age, sex, weight, and social condition), and maps describing the spread of places and distribution over time. The technological advances gives most people access to latitude and longitude in smartphones and easy access to a GIS-like free software such as Google Earth™ (GE), an intuitive and effective program for a fast map of the case addresses geocoded, an easy way to display layers imported from formats like Shapefiles extension, and showing over those layers Excel tables with the patient variables and geocoded data from the sheet. Besides, it gives the availability of saving the spatial data with the variables, in files that can be mailed and displayed in smartphones and PCs with Google Earth installed and with outcomes that have a format compatible to GIS classic software.
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