Ahead of monsoon and also at a time when dengue cases spike, the AI and Robotics Technology Park (ARTPARK) at IISc is developing a dashboard that will use artificial intelligence to predict when and where the mosquito-borne disease may occur, to help the BBMP prepare better.
Dengue is a major zoonotic disease affecting Bengaluru, with cases rising between May and December, and hitting the peak between August and October.
ARTPARK Foundation entered into an MoU with the BBMP on dashboard development 15 days ago. The foundation is doing the project pro bono under the Union government’s One Health programme that aims to tackle zoonotic diseases.
To develop the predictive model, ARTPARK has collected three years’ dengue data from the BBMP, weather data from the India Meteorological Department, mobility data from the BMTC, and data such as Bengaluru’s growth patterns from other departments. These factors are known to impact dengue spread.
Within a month, the analytical dashboard that gives the status and analysis of dengue cases will be ready. “After this, we will layer data from multiple departments and develop the predictive model. This will be ready in six to seven months,” says Dr Bhaskar Rajakumar, Program Director at ARTPARK.
He acknowledges that the quality of various departments’ data collection needs to improve, and hence ARTPARK is also working with departments to standardise this.
Dr Balasundar, Chief Health Officer at the BBMP, says that predictions can help the civic body prepare better with regard to procuring medicines, ramping up testing facilities, and preventive measures like fogging.
“For example, if 20 dengue cases are reported from Padarayanapura, the actual fever cases there will be around 200. So the PHC there should have medicines for 200 people. If we can predict this scenario two weeks prior, we can replenish our medicine stocks earlier,” he says.
The dashboard will also include genomic surveillance data to understand which serotypes of dengue virus have been infecting people more.
ARTPARK is also developing a similar dengue dashboard for Karnataka, but this is a more elaborate process as the factors impacting dengue outbreaks differ across districts.