This month marks five years since COVID-19 crippled the world and engulfed healthcare. A pandemic that took the entire world by surprise. We were not well or adequately prepared. Meanwhile, studies show, it seems we have learned little from the corona pandemic when it comes to our pandemic preparedness. In short, chances are we will be surprised again in the next pandemic. Researchers from the U.S. and Finland have been looking at a possible solution to at least ensure that in that case we can intervene earlier to contain the number of infections. And the smartwatch can play an important role in this.
With many diseases, this was also true of COVID-19, infections are already occurring before the sick persons themselves receive the first symptoms. During the corona pandemic, it was found that ultimately nearly half (44%) of COVID-19 infections were spread just days before the patient showed symptoms. To prevent spread, and the outbreak of an epidemic or pandemic, it is critical to detect carriers of viruses before they become infectious.
Taking advantage of Corona knowledge
At the time of the corona pandemic, several studies have also examined whether, and how, wearables and other technological tools, could help reduce the number of infections or prevent them altogether by detecting the virus before a person becomes infectious.
The Finnish-American study, published in PNAS Nexus, examined how the sensor technology of smartwatches, in particular, could help in this regard. The advantage the researchers had is that unlike five years ago, there is now a lot of data available on how pandemics develop and how effective different measures are to stop the spread.
Pandemic prevention with smartwatches
Their research, conducted by scientists at Aalto University, Stanford University and Texas A&M, was able to show how smartwatches can be a simple and effective way to dramatically reduce the unconscious spread of disease in pre-symptomatic or asymptomatic people.
Most smartwatches now in stores can tell with 88 percent accuracy - based on breathing and heart rate, skin temperature and other markers - whether you are going to get COVID-19. With the flu, that accuracy is even slightly higher at 90 percent. It is known from studies that when people realize they are sick, they reduce their social contacts by 66 to 90 percent. So this means that infection rates will decrease if people know earlier that they are sick.
“Even at the low end of compliance, if people receive an earlier warning and act on it by isolating themselves, the impact is significant,” he said. Also at a 66-75 percent reduction in social contacts shortly after detection by smartwatches - can lead to a 40-65 percent reduction in disease transmission compared to someone who isolates themselves from the onset of symptoms,” says Märt Vesinurm of Aalto University in Finland.
Real-world data
The team of researchers is the first to bring together real-world data from numerous peer-reviewed epidemiological, biological and behavioral studies to mathematically model how infections spread at the population level. Through this powerful combination of data and technology, Vesinurm envisions a future in which smartwatches change the way we deal with pandemics, both at the individual and policy levels.
“People are used to wearables like the smartwatch and while they do not yet have clinical diagnostic functions, they could help make unpopular approaches like masks, lockdowns and invasive tests more targeted and less of a blunt instrument,” Vesinurm concludes.
Of course, in addition to containing the spread of viruses as well, and early, as possible, it is still very important to improve our pandemic preparedness. To this end, the role that (new) technologies, such as AI, can play in this regard is also being increasingly explored.
