Your Fitbit may be a flu fighter. Researchers are using Fitbit data to try to predict flu outbreaks.
Kelsey-Seybold Dr. Steffanie Campbell welcomes this news.
"I think it would be very beneficial if we could predict when things were going to reach a peak, much like it would be great if we could predict when a tornado is coming."
Dr. Campbell hopes the health tech will improve.
"It would be amazing if I could put a monitor on somebody and not only get heart rate but get blood pressure and maybe even their sugar level; I think that would be phenomenal."
But Dr. Campbell says not nearly enough of us wear Fitbits or Apple watches or any of the devices that track the flu metrics.
"We would need a lot more people to start wearing it in order to see any sort of trend or tracking, not just with flu but any other illnesses or disasters that might come up."
Dr. Campbell says she encourages her patients to wear Fitbits, but it's primarily to remind them to exercise. Fitbits, Apple watches, and various Android devices all offer these health monitoring features.