South Africa has a high burden of Tuberculosis (TB). In addition, there is a rise of Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) that has mutated to survive the drugs typically used to treat regular TB. The cases of MDR-TB rose from 2,000 in 2005 to about 8,000 in 2014. And in South Africa, people with TB hide their disease to avoid social isolation, and therefore do not get proper treatment.
One of the key challenges for public health officials is tracking the spread of the disease and controlling transmission. So, IBM is working with South African scientists to develop a system that could help determine how and where TB is spreading in communities. IBM is using wearable headbands and bracelets embedded with RFID tags connected to IBM Watson IOT.
These wearables come in a variety of colors to match various outfits and help patients avoid stigma. The cognitive solutions from IBM help to analyze data collected from these wearables given to patients who have been diagnosed with TB.
This technology will help public health officials map the spread of the airborne disease as it passes through communities and carry out targeted vaccinations based on the mapping of the data. IBM big data analytics will help understand bacteria genomes from drug-resistant strains of MDR-TB, and discover which treatments are successful for which TB strains, so as to improve treatment protocol. IBM will also collect data from different parts of the world to find more effective treatments and ways to reduce the cost of treating TB
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