Now that we are in the midst of a swine-flu national emergency, it’s comforting to know that your handy mobile device can save your life in case of a pandemic.
That may be an exaggeration, but Harvard Medical School’s new Swine Flu Center (two bucks on the iPhone App Store) includes an array of features that will at least get you better educated, and less misinformed, on the progress of the H1N1 virus. Part of the HMSMobile suite of mobile applications, the Swine Flu Center provides a “HealthMap" feature that informs you about outbreaks in your current location and elsewhere. It also offers an interactive symptom tracker, localized information numbers and emergency hotlines, and real-time news updates on H1N1 from one of the world’s premier medical institutions.
President Obama declared the swine flu epidemic – which some experts believe may peak this month – a national emergency, freeing up resources and bypassing some federal regulations in order to ensure swift relief for affected areas. So far cases of the disease have increased gradually, but health care providers and federal regulators are preparing for a large upswell in reported cases. So far, health care providers, infants, the elderly and people with compromised immune systems or respiratory problems are the only people assured of receiving vaccinations, which have been in short supply to date.
In some cities, thousands of people have waited in line for days in hopes of receiving the vaccine.
Back in April, a company call IntuApps released its own swine-flu iPhone app, called Swine Flu Tracker. Like the HMS version, the Swine Flu Tracker provides current threat levels, maps showing confirmed and suspected cases, a symptoms check and news update on the epidemic’s progress.
No word on whether the Swine Flu Center can give you a line on black-market supplies of the H1N1 vaccine.