Predicting Disease Outbreaks with AI: An In-depth Analysis of Infectious Diseases Surveillance
Ankit Kumar Dubey, Khushbu Gupta, Venkatesan S, Abhilasha Sankari, Siva Sankar Namani, R. J. Hemalatha · 2025
Public health coordinators require precise and swift disease outbreak predictions to execute their functions efficiently. This study investigates the application of Reinforcement Learning (RL) in prediction of infectious disease outbreaks in order to improve such surveillance systems through provision of dynamic, adaptive forecasting models. This method applies RL computer algorithms to disease development through Deep Q-Learning and Policy Gradient Methods. The evaluation of live disease transmission patterns helps these algorithms create effective outbreak prediction methods. Reinforcement Learning models receive their training data from historical illness information together with demographic statistics and geographic data. All environmental variables together with population movement and healthcare accessibility are included in the analysis. This technique enables responses to fresh epidemics through adjustments of prediction strategies that adapt to changing conditions. Performance criteria include accuracy, precision and adaptability-that is to say how well RL captures non-linear [tic] disease processes and generate accurate and timely forecasts. A thorough analysis of the results shows how RL can potentially change the infectious disease surveillance dramatically by making substantial gains in predicting precision, resource allocation and prompt response. Finally, the study offers suggestions for RL based models to be included in the current public health infrastructure to enable their incorporation in the management of disease outbreaks in support of more proactive and data driven decision making.