Screenshot from the new iPhone app
Harvard Medical School may have one-upped the CDC’s mobile-phone H1N1 offerings. It recently released an H1N1 iPhone app. For just $1.99, you can download the application and have access to a wealth of H1N1 information and prevention tips to help you protect your family. For $4.00 more, business can purchase an additional component aimed at helping to minimize H1N1’s effect in the workplace.
I spoke with Dr. Anthony Komaroff, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, and editor-in-chief of Harvard Medical Publications — the group behind the iPhone app. “For the last few years, Harvard Medical School has been considering publishing health information for the general public on mobile platforms. The swine flu pandemic was a good fit because it is a focused event, and an intensely important public health topic.”
Once downloaded, users of the app can watch informational videos, determine if specific symptoms indicate a possible H1N1 infection, and whether they should seek immediate medical care. Users can also find the status of the pandemic flu in their community with local data pulled from Health Map. Health Map (which has partnered with Flu.gov) collects its information from a variety of sources, including official public health agency findings, third party scientific monitoring, media reports, and community contributions.
Dr. Komaroff points to the enormous potential that mobile platforms offer to public health efforts. “Fifteen years ago, we never would have imagined having a pocket-sized device that can quickly find you an answer to a health question at almost any time and place.” The hope is that access to reliable and accurate H1N1 information on your mobile device will lessen the influence of misinformation about the H1N1 pandemic.
The HMSMobile Swine Flu Center iPhone app is available in the iTunes store.
