The prevalence of food allergy in the general pediatric population is around 3%. In young children it is higher and can reach 6% of those under 14 years of age, although it decreases with age, according to research. Although more than 15% of the general population believes they are allergic to some food, the studies They reduce the actual prevalence to between 1.5% and 2% of the adult population. The biggest problem is the predominant incidence in the child population, who are not always able to memorize the action protocol or transfer it to the adults in charge of reacting to an episode. From this problem, from a patient, little Alba, and from the friendship of her parents with her allergist, a new free application for mobile phones has emerged, AllergAppwhich “avoids scares and can save lives,” according to its creators.
Antonio Letrán Camacho is an allergist who has lived in Cádiz for 15 years and Alba, with a nut allergy, is his patient. From the medical and friendship relationship with his parents and an episode of accidental poisoning — “a bad time,” remembers Letrán — arose the analysis of the problem, the difficulty of permanently having the necessary information, and the solution. .
José Carlos Toajas is Alba’s father and project director at GECI, an aeronautical and space components manufacturing company. On the day of the “bad time” he did not have on hand the documentation that the doctor had provided them to act in these cases. Memorizing all the steps, medication and dosage is difficult and susceptible to errors. “I knew that José Carlos [Toajas] “I had developed an application for something else and I proposed to him: ‘Now that we are on our mobile all day, why don’t we make one that allows the caregiver or patient to access all the necessary information in two or three clicks?'” he explains. the physician.
“That is the core of the application, helping in the acute moment of reactions. It’s a time when you’re scared, worried. In addition to knowing what phase it is in, you have to manage a specific medication. Having a guide that, in a matter of seconds, tells you what you have to do and accompanies you until the reaction is over is very important,” he adds.
Use is simple: the patient, once diagnosed, registers in the application and transfers necessary personal data, including height, weight and age, as well as the treatment prescribed to combat reactions. It incorporates a virtual “first aid kit” with the necessary drugs and doses depending on the phases of the reaction because, as Letrán indicates, “the sooner it is treated, the sooner it is controlled.”
“The application accompanies you because, when an episode is activated, it asks you, with pre-established times, about the symptoms at that moment to recommend an extra dose or a visit to the emergency room or, on the contrary, indicate a favorable evolution,” explains Letrán. . In addition, the day’s intake can be included to later determine the cause of the episode once it is over. “There are many patients who I don’t see until after 15 days and they no longer remember,” he justifies.
“With this application I always carry the treatment with me. It’s a peace of mind. Additionally, he guides me through every step to follow in case of a reaction. Very useful,” reads Laura Bohigas’ comment on one of the download platforms.
The data conflict
One of the concerns has been the processing of data, which has led these two entrepreneurs to decide that there should be no external storage of the data or dependence on servers in the cloud. Everything is on the user’s individual mobile phone and, if information is necessary for an unaccustomed caregiver, an image file is generated for this person to read only with the necessary protocols. “Children’s data are very sensitive and many parents have praised this decision,” explains the allergist.
This is a widespread problem in other applications. In this sense, Jens Foerderer, from the Technical University of Munich, unrelated to Spanish development, but author of a work on this conflict, states: “Better data protection for smartphone apps is an important step, especially for children. The questions are: how do we find a way out of the trap that consumers are used to using applications for free and companies base their business models on personalized advertising? And how can we do it without reducing the number of innovative applications available that can be very useful to the consumer?
The application, in addition to being free, does not currently have funding other than personal funding. The tool has required the creators to spend more than 10,000 euros of their savings and they have only had help from the Andalusian Society of Allergology and Clinical Immunology (Alergosur) for its distinction as an innovative project. “What I want is for patients to use it and we’ll see how far it goes,” says Letrán without ruling out the incorporation of some sponsorship or its adoption by a health entity.
Other uses
The developers believe that the model can be applied to other pathologies such as asthma or diabetes. The current version is also pending improvements and translation into other languages. In Portugal they have already shown interest. “It’s there in the bedroom,” the doctor admits.
Letrán wants to make it clear that the application does not replace the doctor, but is an aid for action by the patient or their caregivers: “It is a complementary tool designed for those two minutes in which a decision must be made because the child is swollen or itchy mouth. It tells me what I have to do and how. But you have to go to the doctor.”
There are some applications related to allergies, but for the most serious reaction (anaphylaxis) or to provide information about food or pollen, such as R-Alergo from the Hospital de la Fe in Valencia, in collaboration with the Polytechnic University, which alerts of areas to avoid. But none of the features of AllergApp are listed. “An application that was needed. Finally we have it,” comments user Ana María Camacho.
There are also tools for other pathologies with modest results. Thomas Davergne, from Sorbonne University, has analyzed the effects of rehabilitation-oriented applications and concludes: “Those used in seven studies analyzed were mostly commercial and 80% of the videos included content from a physiotherapist. Duration of app use ranged from three to 48 weeks. Those that provide exercise videos lead to small or moderate improvements in physical function, confidence in exercise performance, quality of life, and adherence. However, app use did not influence the rate of adverse events experienced by people participating in the trials.”
The most popular are related to food and its caloric intake. Filippo Bianchi, researcher at the Nesta Foundation and the University of Oxford, comments after the last European Congress on Obesity that addressed the relationship between these applications and home delivery of food: “Our findings suggest that simple interventions could help people to select low-calorie options on delivery apps without the need to eliminate less healthy options. This doesn’t mean we always have to swap pizza for a green salad, but initiatives that facilitate small changes in what we eat could help slowly reduce obesity.”
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