In this report, we present a short review of applications of time series analysis, which consists of spectral analysis based on the maximum entropy method in the frequency domain and the least squares method in the time domain, to the incidence data of infectious diseases. This report consists of three parts. First, we present our results obtained by collaborative research on infectious disease epidemics with Chinese, Indian, Filipino and North European research organizations. Second, we present the results obtained with the Japanese infectious disease surveillance data and the time series numerically generated from a mathematical model, called the susceptible/exposed/infectious/recovered (SEIR) model. Third, we present an application of the time series analysis to pathologic tissues to examine the usefulness of time series analysis for investigating the spatial pattern of pathologic tissue. It is anticipated that time series analysis will become a useful tool for investigating not only infectious disease surveillance data but also immunological and genetic tests.
Keywords: infectious disease; mathematical model; surveillance; temperature; time series analysis.