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Monitors UNAM respiratory disease
Laura Poy Solano
La Jornada
Wednesday, 17 February 2010, p. 41
Researchers at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) driving the first citizen monitoring system respiratory diseases nationwide through the Internet, which will establish a detailed real-time with the application of a questionnaire-a record incidence of various diseases such as influenza A/H1N1.
At a press conference, Natalia Mantilla, a professor at the Faculty of Science and Science Center Complexity of the highest house of studies, pointed out that besides the symptoms of the disease can be obtained demographic data, time and space to integrated into risk mapping and mathematical models to generate an early warning system.
Thermometer citizen
The project, "he added "mirror will allow us to obtain information from national epidemiological surveillance system, and thereby have a thermometer citizen against panic, besides actually knowing how a disease evolves and promote specific actions to contain".
The system, called Report, became operational in May 2009, during the health emergency caused by the outbreak of influenza A/H1N1, and already has data in the whole country; "although preliminary, we hope that with more widespread more people participate portal"Reported.
Mantilla, who coordinates a multidisciplinary team of computer scientists and engineers involved in the project, said to access the site http / /: reporta.c3.org.mx are answered two questionnaires. "The first is general, and for once, to obtain sociodemographic data, while the second is about the possible symptoms of a respiratory disease, and should be answered once a week".
He emphasized that the information is "fully protected, as no personal data is asked, and once they were entered into the system can not detect who is this information". He noted that preliminary results reveal an increase in the number of participants "suspected of having influenza during the same period reported that the health system in July and September".
One of the objectives of Report, "he said, is to broaden participation of underrepresented population groups in the current monitoring systems, such as schoolchildren and the elderly.