New iPhone Application Locates Infectious Diseases Nearby

Researchers at Children’s Hospital Boston have collaborated with the MIT Media Lab to create a new Apple’s iPhone application that is making headlines this fall. "Outbreaks Near Me" enables users to interactively track and report the outbreaks of infectious diseases such as swine flu - H1N1, in real time. The application gives users a contextualized view of their specific location, so they can pinpoint outbreaks that have been noted in the user’s local vicinity, and offers them the opportunity to then search for other outbreak information according to disease or location.

The app is built on the proven capabilities of HealthMap, an online database founded in 2006 that collects and disseminates information about infectious diseases that are emerging and threatening populations around the world. HealthMap mines the Internet searching through disparate information sources such as personal accounts, blogs, news reports, official alerts, and even online chat rooms, to track and map outbreaks of infectious diseases. Although the data shows early information about new outbreaks, users are cautioned to interpret the data appropriately, since it is collected from both official and unofficial sources. The HealthMap website (www.healthmap.org) averages more than 10,000 visits each day, including regular visits from World Health Organization teams, the Centers for Disease Control, and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. When the H1N1 swine flu was making its way around the world this spring, as many as 150,000 site visitors came to HealthMap looking for information.

Other features of Outbreaks Near Me include the ability to set an alert to notify users, either on their iPhone or by e-mail account, when a new outbreak is reported within their proximity, or even if a user enters into an area where new activity has occurred. Users will find the new application to be useful in learning about outbreak information as it happens, not only in their local area but also nationally and globally. As people become increasingly knowledgeable and aware of infectious diseases, they hopefully will become more proactive and involved in protecting public health.

Outbreaks Near Me also includes an option users can use to submit a report about an outbreak. This feature will enable people in countries around the world to directly interact with the team at HealthMap to participate in the surveillance of public health globally. Users can use their iPhone to take photographs of situations and scenarios related to disease, and submit them into the HealthMap system so the team can review them and eventually post them as an alert on their worldwide map.

This type of grassroots epidemiology that encourages participation by the public will help to empower citizens to be involved in the cause of public health. Not only does it provide access to real-time information about outbreaks, it also encourages them to contribute their own expertise, knowledge, and observations about what is going on around them. By giving people the power to participate in surveillance, public health officials will be able to increase global coverage so they can identify and pinpoint infectious disease outbreaks earlier.

Outbreaks Near Me is available free for download in the Apple iTunes App Store.