Ben AdidaMay 13, 2023

I want to give a shout out to exposure notifications, the API Apple and Google created at the beginning of the pandemic. Well scoped. In close collaboration with domain experts. Privacy protecting. Measurably helped, maybe not as much as hoped, but still. And now being responsibly shut down, as promised.

We should praise folks when tech is done right. I want to see more of this responsible deployment of tech.

Show threadEvan Prodromou
@ben Ben, aren't there other communicable diseases that we could prevent with this technique, though?
May 13, 2023 at 1:28amWeb
Show threadBen AdidaMay 13, 2023
@evan my sense is it's most useful for emerging diseases or for diseases that have significant asymptomatic transmission. Plus you need a robust testing infrastructure, cause self reporting is weak and leads to false signals. So... Maybe? But i like that they're using it conservatively.
Show threadEvan ProdromouMay 13, 2023
@ben that makes sense!
Show threadFinal Round Player 😷🇪🇺🍸May 13, 2023

@ben @evan The ZOE project in the UK shows that self reported tests still provide good data. The UK NHS app was altered late in the day to allow self reporting of OTC LFTs.

What I'd really like to understand is why the Google-Apple API was limited to one regional health authority. And separate but related, what the server side component is. It looks from the outside like we could have had a competitive marketplace for decentralised UI apps all interoperating via the API. But maybe not.

Show threadFinal Round Player 😷🇪🇺🍸May 13, 2023

@ben @evan Mainly it seems really sad that worldwide, the API is being abandoned, when #covidisnotover

And finally, what potential is there for the same code to be used for other highly infectious (airborne) diseases? Like Flu, RSV, Norovirus.

Show threadBen AdidaMay 13, 2023
@jbond @evan i guess I'm not bought into the idea that there would be good enough signal to noise ratio through self reporting of diseases where we don't do a ton of real diagnostic testing. Who gets a flu test? Most people just say they have the flu when they feel crappy.
Show threadFinal Round Player 😷🇪🇺🍸May 13, 2023
@ben @evan A part of this would be public education that flu (and RSV and Norovirus ) are highly infectious and deeply unpleasant diseases that you should try hard not to pass on. It doesn't matter if the tests and reporting are a bit vague and prone to false positives, if it encourages people to voluntarily self isolate if they feel ill. Via peer pressure from the people who get the warning.
Show threadBen AdidaMay 13, 2023
@jbond @evan that doesn't sound workable to me. People aren't going to prioritize public good if it's too vague or approximate.
Show threadShadSterlingMay 13, 2023
@ben @jbond @evan I think the solution is to make real diagnostic testing readily available to everyone. Maybe have the threshold be in annual deaths. For the U.S. if you set it to 40k the flu is on the line and covid still needs coverage. Not comfortable letting 40,000 people die of a single preventable disease every year? - then set the threshold lower
Show threadKevin RussellMay 15, 2023

@ben @jbond @evan

Waste water monitoring is a data provider, could be even greater. It is privacy respecting. Measurable data.

The biggest problem is what to look for.

Scientists recently discovered thousands of "new viruses" -- thousands, in baby poop.

The discoverers are calling it a "virome" after the popularization of biome (see yogurt ads).

Many of the found viruses are recognizable, the majority are bacteriophages.

Astounding enough, but its taken too many decades to notice.

Show threadFinal Round Player 😷🇪🇺🍸May 15, 2023

@kevinrns @ben @evan I believe the ONS covid survey in the UK did use waste water monitoring as one of it's inputs. But that survey has been closed down.

And of course there's plenty of science still to be done on all the weird stuff in the biological margins.

Show threadKevin RussellMay 15, 2023

@jbond @ben @evan

There were waste water monitoring in the US and Canada

On the biological margin....
https://theconversation.com/thousands-of-unknown-viruses-discovered-in-baby-poo-why-this-is-not-necessarily-a-bad-thing-204419

Thousands of unknown viruses discovered in baby poo – why this is not necessarily a bad thing

Babies guts found to have ten times as many viral species as bacterial species.

The Conversation
Show threadColorblind CowboyMay 13, 2023
@evan @ben We haven’t even ended the pandemic with this one.