BY ELIZABETH PAYNE, OTTAWA CITIZEN MARCH 21, 2014
The new ImmunizeCA app helps you keep track of your family's vaccine record, as well as when your next shots are due.
Photograph by: Screen shot , Immunize Canada/YouTube
OTTAWA — An app developed by an Ottawa Public Health expert has gone national, a move that will not only improve vaccine record-keeping but could also reduce vaccine preventable outbreaks.
The free app, being launched after a winter during which there were measles outbreaks in Ottawa and across the country, was developed by Dr. Kumanan Wilson, a pandemic planning expert who is a scientist at The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and a Canada Research Chair in Public Health Policy.
He developed it after a conversation in a local park with a neighbour who talked about her frustration with the yellow cards used for vaccination records. She suggested he create an electronic version, which he and electrical engineering student Cameron Bell did.
A prototype version of their app has been available for Ontario residents since 2012. As of this week, an improved version is available for residents across Canada at immunize.ca/app.
The national app, which is a collaboration between the Canadian Public Health Association, Immunize Canada and The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, not only helps people to manage their own health information — letting them know when and if they are due for immunization — but provides information about vaccines.
It also links to a U.S.-based mapping system that can inform the user of any vaccine-preventable outbreaks in their proximity. Although recent measles outbreaks have been widely publicized, Wilson noted that members of the public often aren’t aware when there are nearby outbreaks.
The app can also allow public health officials to notify users when there is an outbreak in their region.
Wilson said its central purpose is to help individuals to organize and keep track of vaccine information, but it will also serve to get accurate information out to the public about vaccines and to emphasize their importance. The result could be better coverage and even a reduction in outbreaks.
“We have to think about meeting the needs of individuals,” he said. “Then, in the process, we can address a lot of the things that contribute to people not vaccinating, like forgetting, or not having the information they need.”
Ian Culbert, executive director of the Canadian Public Health Association, said it is important that vaccinations be maintained.
“Recent outbreaks of influenza and measles across Canada show us that infectious diseases can still be a threat if your vaccinations aren’t up to date.”
epayne@ottawacitizen.com