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Technology applied to the use of big data has been an important tool to provide necessary information for public health responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Colombia has not been the exception. In this document, we analyze two data inputs (digital contact tracking and aggregate mobility analysis, both based on cell pone data), based on which public health measures have been taken in the Latin American country, such as, for example, determining differential control zones within a city, contact tracking, and identification of potential super spreaders. Based on a simple of the data used, we reflect upon the findings reported so far, especially from the perspective of complex networks of contacts and super spreaders, which have been shown to have a critical role in the behavior of the epidemic. The analyses shown here are part of a complex interaction of political and epidemiological contexts which have led to diverse implementations. We highlight that several examples of public policies in Colombia have been informed by this data., A tecnologia aplicada ao uso de grandes dados tem sido uma ferramenta importante para prover informação necessária para dar respostas aos desafios de saúde pública ante a pandemia de COVID-19, e na Colômbia não tem sido exceção. Neste documento se analisam dois insumos de analítica de dados (rastreio digital de contatos e análise agregado de mobilidade, ambos os dois baseados em dados de telefonia celular) sobre os quais se têm tomado medidas de saúde pública no país latino-americano como, por exemplo, determinar zonas de controle diferencial dentro da cidade, o rastreio de contatos, e a identificação de potenciais superdispersores. Com base em uma amostra dos dados utilizados, se faz uma reflexão à luz dos resultados reportados até agora, especialmente desde uma perspectiva de redes complexas de contatos e superdispersores, as quais se tem mostrado têm um papel crítico no comportamento da epidemia. As análises expostas são parte de uma complexa interação entre o contexto político e epidemiológico que fazem diversas suas respetivas implementações. Finalmente, ressalta-se que a Colômbia conta com diversos exemplos de políticas públicas informadas por dados de última geração., La tecnología aplicada al uso de grandes datos ha sido una herramienta importante para proveer información necesaria para dar respuestas a los retos de salud pública ante la pandemia de COVID-19, y en Colombia no ha sido la excepción. En este documento se analizan dos insumos de analítica de datos (rastreo digital de contactos y análisis agregado de movilidad, ambos basados en datos de telefonía celular) sobre los cuales se han tomado medidas de salud púbica en el país latinoamericano como, por ejemplo, determinar zonas de control diferencial dentro de una ciudad, el rastreo de contactos, y la identificación de potenciales superdispersores. Con base en una muestra de los datos utilizados, se hace una reflexión a la luz de los hallazgos reportados hasta el momento, especialmente desde una perspectiva de redes complejas de contactos y superdispersores, las cuales se ha mostrado tienen un papel crítico en el comportamiento de la epidemia. Los análisis expuestos son parte de una compleja interacción entre el contexto político y epidemiológico que hacen diversas sus respectivas implementaciones. Por último, se resalta que Colombia cuenta con diversos ejemplos de políticas públicas informadas por datos de última generación.

Determining the distribution of disease prevalence among heterogeneous populations at the national scale is fundamental for epidemiology and public health. Here, we use a combination of methods (spatial scan statistic, topological data analysis and epidemic profile) to study measurable differences in malaria intensity by regions and populations of Colombia. This study explores three main questions: What are the regions of Colombia where malaria is epidemic? What are the regions and populations in Colombia where malaria is endemic? What associations exist between epidemic outbreaks between regions in Colombia? Plasmodium falciparum is most prevalent in the Pacific Coast, some regions of the Amazon Basin, and some regions of the Magdalena Basin. Plasmodium vivax is the most prevalent parasite in Colombia, particularly in the Northern Amazon Basin, the Caribbean, and municipalities of Sucre, Antioquia and Cordoba. We find an acute peak of malarial infection at 25 years of age. Indigenous and Afrocolombian populations experience endemic malaria (with household transmission). We find that Plasmodium vivax decreased in the most important hotspots, often with moderate urbanization rate, and was re-introduced to locations with moderate but sustained deforestation. Infection by Plasmodium falciparum, on the other hand, steadily increased in incidence in locations where it was introduced in the 2009-2010 generalized epidemic. Our findings suggest that Colombia is entering an unstable transmission state, where rapid decreases in one location of the country are interconnected with rapid increases in other parts of the country. © 2018 Feged-Rivadeneira et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.