POST 01395E: SEARCH ENGINES FOR SURVEILLANCE/SMS FOR DOTS MONITORING

POST 01395E: SEARCH ENGINES FOR SURVEILLANCE/SMS FOR DOTS MONITORING 26 FEBRUARY 2009 ****************************************** USING SEARCH ENGINE DATA FOR SURVEILLANCE The two articles talk about how Google can be used to predict flu epidemics by analyzing search statistics in terms of IP addresses and keywords to determine which regions generate more queries related to symptoms of the disease. Flu Trends: We've found that certain search terms are good indicators of flu activity. Google Flu Trends uses aggregated Google search data to estimate flu activity in your state up to two weeks faster than traditional flu surveillance systems. ..... It turns out that traditional flu surveillance systems take 1-2 weeks to collect and release surveillance data, but Google search queries can be automatically counted very quickly. By making our flu estimates available each day, Google Flu Trends may provide an early-warning system for outbreaks of influenza. Google tool uses search terms to detect flu outbreaks (CNNhealth.com, Dec. 2008) Many thanks to Gael Thome and Markku Toryalai Hart ([[email protected]][email protected][/email]) for sharing these technological updates with us. -------- More on Technology Text messages could hasten tuberculosis drug compliance (The Lancet, 3 Jan. 2009) To help people complete their TB treatment WHO recommends a strategy known as DOTS (directly observed treatment, short course). ... Although DOTS has helped to dramatically improve tuberculosis control around the world, it is insufficient or inaccessible for thousands of patient. .... Other experts note that DOTS is expensive and human-resource intensive. They say it is unrealistic to expect health workers to monitor patients on a daily basis. Several disease control and technology specialists are now looking to SMS as a cost-effective way to communicate with and monitor hard-to-reach patients in remote locations. One reminder product is a small pill bottle made by London-based SIMpill that contains a SIM card and when opened, the SIM card delivers a SMS with a unique pill box identification number to a central server. The central server receives the incoming SMS and stores the data, but if no SMS is received at the designated time, the server contacts the patient via phone alerting them to take their medication. If the patient does not respond, the server contacts a caregiver who can follow-up with the patient. ... Post generated using Mail2Forum (http://www.mail2forum.com)