Smartwatch sensors may prevent future pandemics: Israeli researchers

Physiological sensors in smartwatches can detect infectious diseases days before symptoms appear, potentially averting future pandemics, Israeli researchers said.

In a two-year study involving nearly 5,000 participants, researchers from Tel Aviv University found that the wearables could detect changes in vital signs 23 hours before the first COVID-19 symptom, 62 hours before symptoms of group A streptococcus (GAS), and 73 hours before influenza symptoms appeared.