Combining anonymized mobile phone location data with genetic data of the parasite that causes malaria may help scientists map and predict the spread of drug-resistant malaria, according to new research.
A May 8 article in the Dhaka Tribune discussed a new study that used epidemiological data, travel surveys, genetic data from parasites, and mobile phone data to examine the spread of drug-resistant malaria in areas of Bangladesh.
“Our combined method gave us detailed insight into the direction and intensity of parasite flow between locations,” said Hsiao-Han Chang, research associate at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a co-author of the study.
Read the Dhaka Tribune article: Survey: Genetic and mobile phone data new weapon against drug-resistant malaria