Drug allergies are a serious health issue that affects millions of people worldwide.
According to the World Health Organization, adverse drug reactions are responsible for 5% of hospital admissions and 6% of in-hospital deaths.
One of the main challenges in managing drug allergies is the lack of reliable and standardized information on patients’ history, diagnosis, and treatment.
Currently, most of the drug allergy data are either self-reported by patients or stored in unstructured text formats in electronic health records, which are prone to errors, inconsistencies, and incompleteness.
To address this problem, a team of researchers and developers from France has created Project Vigicard, a web and mobile application that uses blockchain technology to register, validate, and trace drug allergies.
Vigicard is based on Tezos, a decentralized and self-amending platform that supports smart contracts and formal verification.
Tezos offers several advantages for Vigicard, such as high security, scalability, upgradability, and energy efficiency.
Vigicard allows users to declare their drug allergic reactions and monitor them with their healthcare professionals.
The app also provides guidance on the prescription of alternative drugs and the follow-up of allergy tests.
All the information is stored in a permissioned blockchain, which ensures the traceability, and timestamping of the data while preserving the privacy of the patients involved.
Vigicard also follows the international consensus on drug allergy published by the Joint Allergy Societies and the World Allergy Organization.
With Vigicard, patients and medical professionals will be able to access and update a digital drug allergy card instantaneously.
The app also intends to improve the quality and safety of drug treatments, reduce the costs and risks of adverse drug reactions, and empower patients to take control of their health.
Vigicard is currently under development and will be subject to clinical trials at the end of 2023 at the University Hospital of Montpellier, one of the world leaders in the field of allergology.
