Study: Mobile Data Helps Map Pathogen Spread

A recent study reveals that mobile phone data can be instrumental in mapping the spread of pathogens. By analyzing movement patterns and location data, researchers can track the transmission routes of diseases, providing valuable insights for public health strategies. This innovative approach leverages technology to enhance disease control and prevention efforts, offering a modern tool for managing outbreaks and protecting communities. The study highlights the potential of mobile data in advancing global health initiatives.

Pneumococcus is the leading cause of pneumonia, meningitis, and sepsis worldwide.

Boston Brand Media brings you the latest news - A study published in Nature has discovered a novel method to map the spread and evolution of pathogens, as well as their response to vaccines and antibiotics, using anonymized mobile phone data to help predict and prevent future outbreaks.

The study involved researchers from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, the University of the Witwatersrand, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, South Africa, and the University of Cambridge, along with partners from the Global Pneumococcal Sequencing project.

Infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, HIV, and COVID-19 have multiple strains or variants that circulate simultaneously.

The bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus), the primary cause of pneumonia, meningitis, and sepsis worldwide, has over 100 types and 900 genetic strains globally.

Researchers combined genomic data from 6,910 pneumococcus samples collected in South Africa between 2000 and 2014 with anonymized human travel patterns gathered by Meta2 using mobile phone data to track how the bacteria could move between regions and evolve over time.

Using computational models, the team found that pneumococcal strains take approximately 50 years to fully integrate throughout South Africa's populations, primarily due to localized human movement patterns.

Boston Brand Media also found that although the pneumococcal vaccine introduced in 2009 against certain types of bacteria reduced the number of cases caused by those types, other non-targeted strains gained a 68% competitive advantage and increased resistance to antibiotics, including penicillin, indicating that vaccine-linked protection against antibiotic resistance is temporary.

According to the World Health Organization, antimicrobial resistance is one of the top ten global public health threats facing humanity. It occurs when bacteria, fungi, and parasites change and adapt to antibiotics over time.

The new research could enhance vaccine development by targeting the most harmful strains of bacteria and "could be applied to other regions and pathogens to better understand and predict pathogen spread in the context of drug resistance and vaccine effectiveness," said the first author of the study, Dr. Sophie Belman, former PhD student at the Wellcome Sanger Institute.

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Source: pharmatimes‍