About PNOE
The problem. Every winter, seasonal influenza, COVID-19, RSV and other respiratory infections cause a substantial illness burden in Cyprus — lost workdays, GP visits, hospitalisations and worse for the most vulnerable. The existing sentinel surveillance network in Cyprus, which relies on a finite number of healthcare providers reporting flu cases, is sparse and leaves a real gap in our understanding of disease patterns and spread.
The approach. Participatory surveillance is an approach endorsed by the World Health Organization and applied widely in Europe since 2003. Instead of relying only on people who visit a doctor, we ask volunteer members of the public to report their symptoms directly — regardless of whether they are ill or healthy. This avoids the bias associated with only looking into people who seek healthcare, and has been shown to track flu trends closely while identifying the start of the flu season earlier than traditional methods.
PNOE in Cyprus. PNOE (Participatory Network for cOmmunity Epidemiological surveillance) brings this approach to Cyprus for the first time, using SCEPI — a purpose-built mobile application designed with privacy at its core. PNOE is led by Dr. Theodore Lytras, Associate Professor of Public Health at the School of Medicine, European University Cyprus.
Our aim is to monitor respiratory infections in Cyprus accurately, in depth, and in near real time throughout the year, and to provide a flexible surveillance platform that can also be adapted to other health threats.
What we’re trying to learn:
- How respiratory illness trends change over time and place in Cyprus, to spot increasing activity early
- Who is most affected, and what risk factors matter the most
- How well flu vaccines actually work in the community
- How many people with symptoms seek healthcare, and from whom
- Whether — and how often — symptoms linger for weeks after the initial illness
How it works. Participants download the free SCEPI app, provide informed consent electronically, and then fill in a very short weekly questionnaire about any respiratory symptoms. Those who report illness are asked to offer a few more details about their symptoms on a daily basis. Once a year, participants update a short questionnaire about their general health and vaccination status. All of this happens on your smartphone — there are no clinic visits, no tests, no medical procedures.
Results are made public. All findings are shared through an open online dashboard, updated at least weekly, plus periodic reports and scientific publications — so the entire community benefits from participants’ contributions.
About PNOE, in detail (click to download files):
- Full study protocol
- Participant Information Sheet and Informed Consent Form
- Ethics approval from the Cyprus National Bioethics Commission (in Greek -ΕΕΒΚ ΕΠ 2026.01.163)
Ready to enrol in PNOE?
Click here from your smartphone: https://scepi.euc.ac.cy/in/pnoe or scan this QR code:
