Research on phone application to prevent dengue fever
Researchers at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University (NTU) are working on a new mobile app that could be the solution to the current severe dengue outbreak in the Lion City.
Called Mo-Buzz, the free mobile app relies heavily on citizen participation and uses data analytics to track and predict new dengue “hotspots” a month in advance.
Illustration photo. (Source: news.yahoo.com)
Mo-Buzz will also alert users whenever they enter an outbreak area and send messages to those at risk of infection, advising them on what they need to do to prevent infection.
Additionally, users of the new app can also take photos of potential mosquito breeding sites to send to authorities for review.
Despite its promise, Mo-Buzz has yet to be rolled out nationwide in Singapore and NTU is still in preliminary discussions with the authorities.
Singapore is currently experiencing one of the worst dengue outbreaks in its history, with more than 9,000 cases recorded so far this year.
The applied research project, which started in 2010 with surveys in Singapore, India and Vietnam, will be completed this year at a cost of US$150,000.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has invited a research team to pilot the application for 3 weeks in Sri Lanka, where dengue fever is also raging./.
According to (Vietnam+) - VT
