New iPhone App 'Outbreaks Near Me' Locates H1N1 (Swine Flu), Infectious Diseases

App uses HealthMap technology; allows individuals to track, report local
outbreak information

BOSTON, Sept. 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A new iPhone application, created
by researchers at Children's Hospital Boston in collaboration with the MIT
Media Lab, enables users to track and report outbreaks of infectious diseases,
such as H1N1 (swine flu), on the ground in real time. The application,
"Outbreaks Near Me," builds upon the mission and proven capability of
HealthMap, an online resource that collects, filters, maps and disseminates
information about emerging infectious diseases, and provides a new,
contextualized view of a user's specific location - pinpointing outbreaks that
have been reported in the vicinity of the user and offering the opportunity to
search for additional outbreak information by location or disease.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090901/DC68935)

Additional functionality of Outbreaks Near Me is the ability to set alerts
that will notify a user on their device or by e-mail when new outbreaks are
reported in their proximity, or if a user enters a new area of activity.

"We hope individuals will find the new app to be a useful source of outbreak
information - locally, nationally, and globally," says HealthMap co-founder
John Brownstein, PhD, assistant professor in the Children's Hospital
Informatics Program (CHIP). "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."

The new application also features an option for users to submit an outbreak
report. This will enable individuals in cities and countries around the world
to interact with the HealthMap team and participate in the public health
surveillance process. Users may take photos - of situations and scenarios of,
and/or leading to, disease - with their iPhone and submit them to the
HealthMap system for review and eventual posting as an alert on the worldwide
map.

"This is grassroots, participatory epidemiology," says HealthMap co-founder
Clark Freifeld, a PhD student at the MIT Media Lab and research software
developer at CHIP. "In releasing this app we aim to empower citizens in the
cause of public health, not only by providing ready access to real-time
information, but also by encouraging them to contribute their own knowledge,
expertise, and observations. In enabling participation in surveillance, we
also expect to increase global coverage and identify outbreaks earlier."

HealthMap was founded in 2006 and mines the Internet - searching disparate
data sources such as news reports, curated personal accounts, official alerts,
blogs and chat rooms - to track and map infectious disease outbreaks. While
the data have been shown to provide early information on new outbreaks, users
are encouraged to interpret the data appropriately as it is drawn from both
official and unofficial sources.

The HealthMap Web site (www.healthmap.org) averages 10,000 unique visits a
day, including regular users from the World Health Organization, the CDC, and
the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. During the peak of
H1N1 swine flu this spring, visits to the site rose substantially, with as
many as 150,000 visitors coming to the Web site to search for information.

Outbreaks Near Me was developed with support from Google.org and is available
at no cost for download in the iTunes App Store. For more information on
Outbreaks Near Me, visit: http://healthmap.org/iphone.php.

Children's Hospital Boston is home to the world's largest research enterprise
based at a pediatric medical center, where its discoveries have benefited both
children and adults since 1869. More than 500 scientists, including eight
members of the National Academy of Sciences, 11 members of the Institute of
Medicine and 12 members of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute comprise
Children's research community. Founded as a 20-bed hospital for children,
Children's Hospital Boston today is a 396-bed comprehensive center for
pediatric and adolescent health care grounded in the values of excellence in
patient care and sensitivity to the complex needs and diversity of children
and families. Children's also is the primary pediatric teaching affiliate of
Harvard Medical School. For more information about the hospital and its
research visit: www.childrenshospital.org/newsroom.

CONTACT:
Keri Stedman
Children's Hospital Boston
617-919-3114
keri.stedman@childrens.harvard.edu

SOURCE Children's Hospital of Boston

Keri Stedman of Children's Hospital Boston, +1-617-919-3114,
keri.stedman@childrens.harvard.edu