A new iPhone application, made by analysts at Children's Hospital Boston in collusion with the MIT Media Lab, allows users to track and report outbreaks of infectious illnesses, eg. H1N1, on the ground in realtime.
The application, "Outbreaks Near Me," builds on the mission and proved capacity of HealthMap, an internet resource that collects, filters, maps and disseminates info about rising infectious sicknesses, and offers a new, contextualized view of a user's precise location locating outbreaks that have been reported in the area of the user and offering the chance to search for further outbreak info by location or illness. "We hope people will find the new app to be a helpful source of outbreak info domestically, nationally, and globally," claims HealthMap founder John Brownstein, PhD, aid professor in the Children's Hospital Informatics Program ( CHIP ).
"As people are supplied with additional information and perception of infectious illness, the hope is they will become more concerned and active about public health." This may enable people in towns and countries around the globe to have interaction with the HealthMap team and take part in the general public health surveillance process. Users may take pictures of scenarios and eventualities of, and / or leading to, illness with their iPhone and submit them to the HealthMap system for review and eventual posting as a warning on the worldwide map.
"This is grassroots, participatory epidemiology," announces HealthMap founder Clark Freifeld, a Doctorate student from MIT Media Lab and research software developer at CHIP. "In releasing this app we hope to enfranchise voters in the reason for public health, not only by providing prepared access to realtime info, but also by inspiring them to contribute their own data, experience, and observations. In enabling collaboration in surveillance, we also expect to extend worldwide coverage and identify outbreaks earlier.".
