pogoism

via Discovery Channel News

Scientists from Harvard Medical School have unveiled a new way to track disease outbreaks across the world. Their software monitors sites like the World Health Organisation, news websites and public health servs and builds a near realtime map of outbreaks. This information can then be used by doctors and researchers.

The idea was jointly conceived by John Brownstein of Harvard Medical School and Children’s Hospital Boston and Clark Friefeld, a Harvard Medical School software developer

We were originally thinking about how we could expand disease surveillance and pick up outbreaks earlier than traditional methods. It was a pilot project, a side gig…

According to Discovery News “the system identifies 95% of all disease outbreaks, sometimes days before the WHO or CDC announce them”.

The service is being improved to include other, more active, sources such as blogs, which although potentially less reliable, can be quicker to alert the authorities.

A quick look over Northern Ireland shows a few outbreaks of hospital acquired infections – one of C. difficile and another of MRSA.

As this service expands, it will become more and more useful, not just to doctors and researchers, but also to the public, as they can keep track on what is happening in their area, or if they are travelling in the near future. 

You can view HealthMap here.