The latest in mobile phone applications introduces the FluPhone app and has been invented by researchers at the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory in order to observe the spread of flu among users and hopefully reduce the spread of such infectious diseases. The app allows phones to communicate with one another and record the number of people the phone user comes into contact with via a Bluetooth connection.
The impact of the app was observed over a 3 month pilot study in 2010 and the data proved insightful. Epidemiologists always ask patients to keep a diary of their social interactions so that they can better understand the spread of such infections and disease. The phone app will give medics a greater understanding of how flu spreads in different community structures and at what pace the spread accelerates.