- by breakdengue

How Singapore is using social technologies to combat dengue

dengue_1For the people of Singapore, 2013 was the worst year on record for dengue with more than 22,000 cases reported throughout the year. At its peak in June more than 800 cases were being reported each week, and though this came down to around 400 each week in the later months of the year, this was still four times more than normally expected. The 2013 outbreak is thought to have been brought on by the reemergence of the dengue serotype one, which accounts for 85% of cases. Unfortunately, Singapore’s success in controlling the vector over the past decade may have led to low immunity to dengue among the population. This outbreak continued into 2014, with an unseasonal 400 cases reported each week for the first weeks of the year. Though this has now dropped to a plateau of around 250 a week, the Singaporean government is continuing to fight back by using the latest mobile and social technologies to the fullest.

Dengue

Images taken from Google play

The National Environment Agency’s (NEA) myENV app provides an overview and detailed maps of local dengue clusters, and will soon include push notifications and more location-specific features. The Stop Dengue Now Facebook page has some 13,000 followers, and provides weekly updates of dengue clusters, highlighting neighborhoods most at risk, and showing the number of cases. Meanwhile, the “We are Dengue Fighters” Facebook app provides a wealth of information in video and poster formats about how to combat the disease. This smart use of the latest technologies will help keep dengue infections down during Singapore’s peak dengue season.