Crowdsourcing to Prevent Campus Flu Outbreaks
Flu, like many infectious diseases spreads wherever people congregate, for example in office buildings, sports centers, shopping malls and university campuses.
The University of Wisconsin–Madison (UW-Madison) has developed an app that will crowdsource flu surveillance to spot potential outbreaks on its campus.
The institution has more than 42,000 students and flu outbreaks can be a huge problem resulting in missed classes and exams. By detecting the disease early, the OutSmart Flu app aims to help the university stop the virus from spreading any further.
“Our app might encourage those on campus to be more aware of when the virus is going around, to encourage taking precautions like washing hands a little longer or making an extra effort to get the flu shot,” said UW-Madison professor Dr. Ajay Sethi.
Earlier Detection
Currently, the University Health Services (UHS) works with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to monitor flu epidemics on campus. This relies on students presenting themselves in clinic with flu-like symptoms.
However, according to university researchers many people look up details of symptoms on the internet before they go and see their doctor. This was why in 2010 Google demonstrated it could detect flu epidemics two weeks before the Centers for Disease Control.
Cash Prize for Participation
The new app allows users to report and monitor flu via their smartphones. To encourage participation, students earn points for filling in their profiles, completing surveys and reporting symptoms. Each point is an entry into a $500 prize raffle.
If many registered users are reporting flu-like symptoms at the same time it might suggest an outbreak is imminent. Therefore, preventative action can be taken early enough to stop others from being infected.
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