News Excerpt:

An India-led global team of research scientists has been recognized for their groundbreaking work in the field of digital vaccines, winning the prestigious Health Information Technology in Action award from the Johns Hopkins Center for Digital Health and AI.

What are Digital Vaccines?

• Digital vaccines are a novel concept in public health, referring to digital interventions, often in the form of mobile apps, games, or virtual reality experiences, that use behavioral science, artificial intelligence (AI), and data analytics to promote health education and influence positive behavior changes. 
• Unlike traditional vaccines that involve biological agents to build immunity against diseases, digital vaccines aim to "immunize" individuals against health risks by enhancing their knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to disease prevention. For example use of Co-WIN app by the Indian Government during pandemic to spread awareness and interventions against COVID 19.

More about the Research:

• The award-winning research paper, presented at the 14th Conference on Health IT and Analytics, explores the effectiveness of a gamified virtual reality mobile app in reducing the risk of infectious diseases among students.
• The team's research demonstrates the potential of digital vaccines to lower the incidence of various diseases by enhancing health literacy through interactive and engaging mobile gameplay.
• The research involved an 11-week longitudinal trial conducted in partnership with a hospital in Chennai.
• The study took place at a government school in Sriperumbudur, near Chennai, and involved nearly 250 children from grades 1-8.
• The mobile app, known as "fooya!," was used to influence the health learning of these students, with the data revealing significant improvements in their understanding of infectious diseases.

Significance of the Study:

• The success of the digital vaccine underscores the importance of innovative educational tools in addressing public health challenges. 
• The use of AI-enabled, gamified therapeutic approaches to enhance health literacy has shown strong evidence of effectiveness, particularly in low- and middle-income school settings.
• The team’s work extends beyond India, with randomized field trials conducted in the U.S., Botswana, and other countries.
• These trials have consistently demonstrated the positive impact of digital vaccines on health education, inspiring ongoing research, development, and deployment efforts aimed at societal benefit.
• The study is noted for being one of the first to conduct a multi-month randomized trial measuring the impact of an AI-enabled educational mobile health game on students’ knowledge in such settings. 

Conclusion:

The recognition of this India-led team’s work marks a significant milestone in the field of digital health. Their innovative use of AI and gamification in health education has the potential to transform how public health challenges are addressed globally, offering a promising new tool in the fight against infectious diseases.