Tracking System Benefits Pakistani Infants, Doctors

By Claire Swedberg, RFID Journal Magazine

RFID-enabled cell phones and ID bracelets can help doctors provide infants with better and more efficient care through the sharing of data among several dozen doctors and facilities, according to a study currently underway in Karachi, Pakistan. Thousands of infants in that city have been participating in a study the frequency of pneumonia occurrence and the origins of that pneumonia infection, while their health record is being tracked by health-care workers using phones to scan passive 13.56 MHz RFID tags embedded in ID bracelets.

Currently, Pakistani infants are not given a pneumococcal vaccine. Consequently, the study is intended to measure how often infants contract pneumonia, and how often those infections are the result of pneumococcal disease—a bacterial infection that can invade the lungs. By analyzing the data from the RFID-based study, researchers hope to understand whether a pneumococcal vaccine should be provided to Pakistani infants to reduce the rate of pneumonia infections.

Used with permission from RFID Journal, Inc.