The field of precision medicine, which uses technology to target hyperlocal public health campaigns, is growing, but has some critics, reported Nature Jan. 4.
Precision public health uses technology and detailed data to help build the most accurate and targeted approach to solving public health problems.
"You’re doing all the things you normally do in public health, but the unique aspect is that we’re using big data and predictive analytics to be more targeted and tailored in these efforts," Caitlin Allen, a PhD student of public health at Atlanta based-Emory University told Nature.
For instance, during the peak of the pandemic in New York City, a team of researchers from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene used an open source data-analytics program to map the clusters of COVID-19 outbreaks in almost real-time. The data they pulled from hospitals and labs across the city helped them determine the hardest-hit communities and distribute resources right into these epicenters.
Precision public health was also used in Miami in June 2016. Using detailed geographic data, public health experts were able to pinpoint areas that may contain mosquitos carrying the Zika virus and sprayed only two blocks with insecticide as opposed to neighborhoods or the entire city.
But critics of the growing field argue that precision public health is just a new name for what public health has always done.
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