All parents are encouraged to have their children vaccinated in order to prevent diseases including polio, chickenpox, measles, and diphtheria that can potentially be life threatening.
However, many of these mothers and fathers, especially in developing nations, are having a hard time keeping track of their children's vaccination schedules. To resolve the serious issue, a team from Michigan State University (MSU) explored the use of fingerprints.
A professor from MSU Anil Jain proposed the utilization of a fingerprint-recognition system for tracking vaccination schedules for toddlers and babies. The method, which had already been tested in Benin, West Africa, is simple.
A special optical reader is used to scan the fingerprints of children. The scanned fingerprints, which may be derived from the index and thumb, then help create the vaccination registry entry, where all vaccination schedules and updates can be inputted by the healthcare worker.
Once the registry is complete, all the worker has to do is to rescan the children's fingerprints to pull up the needed data, which can include the vaccines already given and the schedules for the succeeding vaccines (boosters).
For the team, this method is more effective and accurate than the existing traditional procedure, which involves writing schedules on paper. Based on their research, parents of developing nations tend to lose these documents.
Further, they believe that the system itself may be replicated and be used in other public services, including but not limited to tracking children's education.
Nevertheless, the researchers also admitted that there are presently some challenges in their design. For example, younger ones, especially infants, have less-detectable fingerprints since their valleys and ridges aren't pronounced yet.
Moreover, they have to perform a longitudinal study to determine the effectiveness of the system over time.
The World Health Organization fact sheet on immunization reveals that more than 6 million children below 5 years old died in 2014. However, over 50% of these deaths are preventable such as malaria, which can be prevented through a vaccine. Consistent immunization of children, meanwhile, can reduce child mortality to around 3 million every year.
The full text of the study can be accessed in the MSU website.
