Who would have guessed that you could use Google search to detect specific flu outbreaks in your area. I came across an article today when looking for things to write about for my blog and this headline off of Cnn.com jumped right out at me, “Google tool uses search terms to detect flu outbreaks.” I of course had to read the article because I wondered how Google could help someone figure out if their symptoms were in fact flu symptoms, and how they could know if the flu was being spread around in the places in which they lived. According to the article, “Google’s new public health initiative, Google Flu Trends, looks at the relative popularity of a slew of flu-related search terms to determine where in the U.S. flu outbreaks may be occurring.” This to me is a really interesting concept because it gives anyone the ability to find out if their symptoms are flu symptoms and if there is an outbreak of it in their area. What’s really interesting is that it lets anyone find this information out, not just doctors, but moms with sick children too.
Dr. Joseph Bresee who is the chief of the epidemiology and prevention branch in the Centers for Disease Control influenza divisions said, “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention collaborated with Google on the project, helping validate and refine the model, and has provided flu tracking data over a five-year period.” It’s really interesting to think about how much computer mediated communication is relevant in today’s world and how much of an impact it has had on the technologies of today. There are so many more resources available to the everyday person because of the extreme advancement of all these technologies. Dr. Bresee says, "We really are excited about the future of using different technologies, including technology like this, in trying to figure out if there's better ways to do surveillance for outbreaks of influenza or any other diseases in the United States, In theory at least, this idea can be used for any disease and any health problem." Dr. Randall Stafford of Stanford University commented that this technology could be useful to detecting these flu outbreaks in a faster amount of time than using influenza surveillance systems.
I know I’ve said in previous blogs about how with every positive thing that comes from all these technologies also comes negatives, but I think this new tool that Google is offering can be very useful to all people. The flu virus can be very dangerous and it is important that people, especially elderly people, take the necessary precautions to protect themselves from being exposed to an outbreak. This new technology is going to help people in detecting outbreaks and from the flu virus being spread amongst people and that is very important.
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