BBAU research to help tackle dengue, infectious outbreaks

Recent research on infectious diseases by faculty members of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University (BBAU) funded by Council of Science and Technology, UP (CST-UP), will help policy makers strengthen policies associated with infectious diseases.
This research will evolve ways to utilise advanced machine learning and statistical techniques to predict the outbreak and spread of infectious diseases in different regions of the country.
“As part of the research, we have studied the rate of infection and rate of either deaths or recoveries. When random data for a week is put through a software developed by us, it provides predicted data related to further spread of infection for about two-three days. The real time data was later compared with the predicted data and was found credible,” said Subhash Yadav, a faculty member at BBAU associated with the research.
He also said that if the rate of infection, divided by the rate of recovery or deaths, is less than one, the spread of the disease can be understood to have a declining trend.
The data can help policy makers control the spread of infectious diseases like dengue, Covid 19, monkeypox, lumpy skin disease etc.
Yusuf Akhter, another faculty member at BBAU associated with the research, said that the research can be effective for policy makers who are required to allocate resources, intervene by amending policies region-wise, and mitigate the impact of the diseases.
“When used, our research will help policy makers in optimal use of manpower and resources. Having focused and robust policies is as important as checking if drugs, vaccines and preventive measures of the disease are in place,” said Akhter.
Media in charge CST-UP Sumit Srivastava said, “Early detection can be a preventive measure for infections like dengue. This type of research can help predict the outbreak of infectious diseases throughout the country,” said Srivastava.