tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Seasonal flu epidemics account for as many as half a million deaths worldwide each year. And the rapid spread of new strains can cause many more (the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic alone killed more than 16,000 people, according to the World Health Organization). Quickly detecting a regional rise in flu-like symptoms such as coughs, sore throats or high fevers can help public health officials take steps to dampen the impact. However, it can take days?even weeks?for trends spotted in clinics to be reported more broadly.
Before visiting a clinic, many flu sufferers visit Web sites for information about symptoms and remedies?a tendency that Google engineers took advantage of to create a real-time flu tracker called ?Google Flu Trends.?
"We're constantly looking for trends in our search results, and ways to use them to do something useful," says Jamie Yood, communications lead for Google Flu Trends.
...
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=google-flu-trends-on-par-with-cdc-data
Before visiting a clinic, many flu sufferers visit Web sites for information about symptoms and remedies?a tendency that Google engineers took advantage of to create a real-time flu tracker called ?Google Flu Trends.?
"We're constantly looking for trends in our search results, and ways to use them to do something useful," says Jamie Yood, communications lead for Google Flu Trends.
...
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=google-flu-trends-on-par-with-cdc-data