Google Flu Trends - early warning system for foodborne illness outbreaks?
Google Flu Trends is a new Web tool that Google.org, the company’s philanthropic unit, unveiled on Tuesday, just as flu season was getting under way in the United States.
The N.Y. Times reports that Google Flu Trends is based on the simple idea that people who are feeling sick will probably turn to the Web for information, typing things like “flu symptoms” or “muscle aches” into Google. The service tracks such queries and charts their ebb and flow, broken down by regions and states.
Early tests suggest that the service may be able to detect regional outbreaks of the flu a week to 10 days before they are reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
We’ve thought of doing something like this with surveillance of foodborne illnesss, or even restaurant inspection and complaints. But we don’t have the resources of Google.
Google Flu Trends (www.google.org/flutrends) is the latest indication that the words typed into search engines like Google can be used to track the collective interests and concerns of millions of people, and even to forecast the future.
http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/admin/trackback/95607
I believe medical researchers in Massachussetts at Harvard are teaming up with Google to do something similar for infectious diseases, with food outbreaks being a subcategory. Their project has been ongoing for quite some time and is showing signs of success.
It is incredible to see the power of mind, creativeness and technology...
On a slightly different but related note, a team at Harvard is tracking infectious disease (food outbreaks being a subcategory) on Google maps. Combined with additional visual analytics, I expect this to change the way foodborne outbreaks are monitored and the way epidemiological studies are conducted.
We simply cannot rely on a sick person to recall what they ate to effectively and quickly determine the sources and trends of foodborne outbreaks. These new information and visual analytic tools are paving the way to solve some serious challenges in foodborne outbreaks.
You don't have the resources of Google, but Google does. You can look at the trends yourself to get a feel for it. http://www.google.com/trends?q=salmonella%2C+e+coli&ctab=0&geo=US&geor=all&date=all&sort=1
And I bet Google could help find which terms correlate best with the CDC data. Because it is a good fit for their business and humanitarian (http://www.google.org/predict.html) missions. And, since they've just done it with flu, it should be easy.
Who wouldn't want to work on a project like that?
Employers are increasingly turning to video surveillance to monitor the activities of employees. In answering the question of whether an employer's use of video surveillance is permissible, US courts have examined an employee's expectation of privacy in the area being monitored, as well as considered any applicable laws or regulations governing such a search.
I expect this to change the way foodborne outbreaks are monitored and the way epidemiological studies are conducted.We simply cannot rely on a sick person to recall what they ate to effectively and quickly determine the sources and trends of foodborne.