{"id":1390,"date":"2020-04-02T16:29:26","date_gmt":"2020-04-02T16:29:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/haleyvillechamber.org\/Haleyville-Area-Chamber-of-Commerce\/?p=1390"},"modified":"2020-04-02T16:29:26","modified_gmt":"2020-04-02T16:29:26","slug":"new-coronavirus-symptom-tracker-launches-to-improve-disease-tracking-in-rural-communities-across-deep-south","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/haleyvillechamber.org\/Haleyville-Area-Chamber-of-Commerce\/blog\/new-coronavirus-symptom-tracker-launches-to-improve-disease-tracking-in-rural-communities-across-deep-south\/","title":{"rendered":"New coronavirus symptom tracker launches to improve disease tracking in rural communities across Deep South"},"content":{"rendered":"

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As the Deep South sees a surge in cases of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, experts from the\u00a0University of Alabama at Birmingham<\/a>\u00a0have created a symptom checker to identify hot spots where the virus is spreading. The new website,\u00a0HelpBeatCOVID19.org<\/a>, will provide public health officials insight into underserved areas based on the symptomatic data collected from the region and could help inform and enhance public health observation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are taking a look at COVID-19 symptoms alongside underlying medical conditions to provide public health officials an in-depth analysis of how rural areas are affected in real time,\u201d said Sue Feldman, Ph.D., associate professor in the\u00a0UAB School of Health Professions<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0UAB School of Medicine<\/a>. \u201cThe website asks people about their symptoms to produce an interactive map showing how areas are effected and hot spots that are showing a rise in symptoms. We hope to learn more about how coronavirus is spreading in rural communities who have health disparities so we can help fight the spread of the disease.\u201d<\/p>\n

HelpBeatCOVID19 will help public health officials and health care workers\u00a0track symptoms before\u00a0the disease spreads\u00a0by encouraging people to take a daily survey about their symptoms. The symptom tracker will provide up-to-date information that tracks the progression of symptoms in communities in real time.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring this devastating disease outbreak,\u00a0we cannot ignore anyone, any population, any demographic,\u201d said Mohanraj Thirumalai, Ph.D., assistant professor in the UAB School of Health Professions. \u201cHelpBeatCOVID19 gives everyone a voice\u00a0and a chance to contribute to a new way of reporting symptoms that is specifically designed for the rural communities who are often without the resources of those who live closer to urban areas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Log symptoms daily<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
UAB needs you. We need donations for supplies and patient care. We need support for displaced students. We need meals for our health-care professionals on the front lines. We need all hands on deck. We’re all apart\u2014but we’re all a part of the fight. We need you.\u00a0Join UAB’s fight against coronavirus.<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

People can visit the website daily to report their symptoms based on if they are feeling well or experiencing symptoms related to the novel coronavirus. The questionnaire takes about three to five minutes to fill out based on how someone is feeling. There is a series of questions addressing how one feels that day, current symptoms, other existing health conditions and basic social factors.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs people present more symptoms in these communities, public health officials will be able to look at populations in specific ZIP codes, gaining timely information to help identify priorities during the course of the COVID-19 outbreak,\u201d said Sarah Parcak, Ph.D., professor in the\u00a0UAB College of Arts and Sciences<\/a>. \u201cThis information will fill a void in coronavirus reporting and be of great value to help lessen the threat to public health in the Southeast. The new tool could help identify new community outbreaks more effectively taking into account all aspects of lives of the people in that community.\u201d<\/p>\n

While following respiratory illnesses such as COVID-19 and SARS has traditionally focused primarily on movement of people and the biological spread of the virus,\u00a0HelpBeatCOVID19 includes an additional focus beyond symptoms and health to other contributing factors. This includes social factors, such as neighborhood characteristics, economic factors and others, that may become key in understanding and acting upon information gathered from the\u00a0questionnaire. In particular, such information can help us\u00a0understand disparities in COVID-19 spread and eventual outcomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Learn more about coronavirus\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

HelpBeatCOVID19 is a\u00a0multi-channel\u00a0geographical symptom tracker\u00a0platform\u00a0driven by crowdsourced, consumer-generated data\u00a0collection that is inclusive and representative. The inclusive system focuses on health and wellness tracking across the Southeast, with an emphasis on underserved communities and underrepresented populations.<\/p>\n

The symptom tracker is being used for surveillance that provides foundational data for future research about COVID-19 spread. The geospatial information used to provide the surveillance was put together by a team of collaborators from UAB in 10 days, a project that would have taken eight to 10 months in normal circumstances. The project is led by Parcak, Feldman and Thirumalai with support from UAB\u2019s\u00a0Center for Clinical and Translational Science<\/a>,\u00a0College of Arts and Sciences<\/a>,\u00a0Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Center<\/a>, School of Medicine, School of Health Professions,\u00a0School of Public Health<\/a>, and the\u00a0UAB\/Lakeshore Research Collaborative<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If you are interested in supporting\u00a0HelpBeatCOVID19<\/a>, please contact Camille Epps, senior director of Alumni and Development, at\u00a0camilleepps@uab.edu<\/a>\u00a0or 205-996-2154. For media inquiries, please contact Alicia Rohan, manager of Public Relations, at\u00a0arohan@uab.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the Deep South sees a surge in cases of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, experts from the\u00a0University of Alabama at Birmingham\u00a0have created a symptom checker to identify hot spots where the virus is spreading. The new website,\u00a0HelpBeatCOVID19.org, will provide public health officials insight into underserved areas based on the symptomatic data collected from the region […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/haleyvillechamber.org\/Haleyville-Area-Chamber-of-Commerce\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1390","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/haleyvillechamber.org\/Haleyville-Area-Chamber-of-Commerce\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/haleyvillechamber.org\/Haleyville-Area-Chamber-of-Commerce\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/haleyvillechamber.org\/Haleyville-Area-Chamber-of-Commerce\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/haleyvillechamber.org\/Haleyville-Area-Chamber-of-Commerce\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1390"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/haleyvillechamber.org\/Haleyville-Area-Chamber-of-Commerce\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1390\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1393,"href":"https:\/\/haleyvillechamber.org\/Haleyville-Area-Chamber-of-Commerce\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1390\/revisions\/1393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/haleyvillechamber.org\/Haleyville-Area-Chamber-of-Commerce\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/haleyvillechamber.org\/Haleyville-Area-Chamber-of-Commerce\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/haleyvillechamber.org\/Haleyville-Area-Chamber-of-Commerce\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}