Health Buzz: Google Flu Trends and Other Health News

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YPKJhwwaAyqtrDRKS of WV 5:51PM April 13, 2009

Google swiped the Flutrends "idea" from:
Eysenbach G. Infodemiology: tracking flu-related searches on the web for syndromic surveillance. AMIA Annu Symp Proc. 2006:244-8.
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=17238340

Gunther Eysenbach 3:33PM March 24, 2009

If Google Flu can be used to collect data on search terms regarding the flu, why should we expect data won't be collected on other search terms? Tracking search terms could be used to locate and snuff out countless social movements. I'm not sure I like the idea of Google Flu.

Hilary Smith of CA 2:14AM November 13, 2008

GOOGLE + Wikipedia are my very best friends on the Internet. I learn many new things each day... sbout so many topics!
But now I am at a lost to find any charts, etc. from my 'GOOGLE FLU TRENDS' search.
Is this still a project in development, or is it already a GO ?
How do I get meaningful information ?

James K. Dittrich of NH 8:01PM November 12, 2008

The Google Flu development is part of a larger movement toward electronic health records (EHR). Collected data on healthcare and care providers helps identify the best care options and successful providers, all aimed at affordable healthcare. EHR goes beyond this intriguing flu tracking, whoissick.org, and earlier online tools such as WebMD to identify, for example, diabetes or heart disease outbreaks. All of these parts taken together can help us become smarter about our healthcare.
Emerging EHR efforts get a big push in Seattle on Dec. 1 at the Healthcare Town Hall meeting of elected officials, healthcare experts, and data and technology providers discussing healthcare reform and electronic health records. www.healthcaretownhall.com . Free and open to the public at 7:30 p.m. at Seattle's Town Hall.
Question? Email: townhall@milliman.com

Jeremy Engdahl-Johnson of WA 7:24PM November 12, 2008