Subscription Center
Sep 1, 2009 01:58 PM | 1
Want to know what illnesses are flourishing nearby without getting sick yourself? The builders of HealthMap, an online service that collects and maps various reports of infectious diseases such as the H1N1 swine flu, have launched a similarly ill application for the iPhone.
Outbreaks Near Me, the none-too-jocundly named app, was developed by researchers at the Children's Hospital Boston and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab, and can send notifications for everything from lumpy skin disease to porcine circovirus in your vicinity.
"As people are equipped with more knowledge and awareness of infectious disease, the hope is that they will become more involved and proactive about public health," John Brownstein, a HealthMap co-founder and assistant professor in the Children's Hospital Informatics Program (CHIP), said in a prepared statement.
Users can set a notification on their phones to be alerted if a new outbreak near them is reported. They can also submit reports, photos and details that the group will verify before entering into the tracking system.
"This is grassroots, participatory epidemiology," Clark Freifeld, a doctoral researcher and software developer at CHIP, said in a prepared statement. "In enabling participation in surveillance, we also expect to increase global coverage and identify outbreaks earlier."
Image of outbreak report screen courtesy of HealthMap
Tags:
infectious disease,
iPhone
More News Blog:
Next: Is geoengineering humanity's last hope to avoid catastrophic global warming?
Previous: Southern California fire threatens historic Mount Wilson Observatory
See what we're tweeting about
Dhunterauthor Using the morality clause to split up gay… http://t.co/qlkoj0jQ08
moximer "Dearest Jezebel, not everybody with a uterus is down for the cause." http://t.co/ExqR8WSpsq [many points I disagree with; still, I laughed]
michaelshermer Did you know that "SM performances are deeply tied to capitalist cultural formations"? Or that BDSM is "a paradigmatic consumer sexuality"?
Deadline: Jun 29 2013
Reward: $7,000 USD
The Seeker for this Challenge desires proposals for chemical methods that could rapidly degrade a dilute aqueous solution
Deadline: Jun 30 2013
Reward: $1,000,000 USD
This is a Reduction-to-Practice Challenge that requires written documentation and&
Powered By: 
YES! Send me a free issue of Scientific American with no obligation to continue the subscription. If I like it, I will be billed for the one-year subscription.
1 Comments
Add Comment
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisTry the new MOBILE phone APPLICATION for FREE on www.bump.ac !BackUp your information now!