Flu Trackers, Internet surveillance and Bluetooth: the new technologies become protagonists in the fight against influenza
An article from the Washington Post published on September 2nd 2009 deals with technology and new forms of Internet social interaction as powerful tools that are transforming how influenza outbreaks are monitored.The article contains an interview to Alessandro Vespignani, professor of Informatics at Indiana University and coordinator of the Epiwork project. “All these things really change the way that we can manage diseases,” said Alessandro Vespignani. “It’s not just . . . a passive approach, where we just wait for the disease and then try to do something.”
The article mentions also “flu watcher” programs in which volunteers report their health conditions weekly via the Internet citing the case of Italy, the Netherlands, Britain and other countries, with tens of thousands of volunteers.
