information aesthetics.
Google has discovered a close relationship between how many people search for flu-related topics online, and how many people actually have flu symptoms, by comparing their query data with data from the surveillance system managed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Of course, not every person who searches for "flu" is actually sick, but a pattern emerges when all the flu-related search queries from each state and region are added together.
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, and geographically located, very quickly. By releasing, and then visualizing [google.org] the aggregated search data to the public, the resulting influenza estimates may enable public health officials and health professionals to better respond to seasonal epidemics and pandemics.
See also Who is Sick - Sickness Map. Via kottke.org and Flowing Data.
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Hmmm yeah trends are really interesting, you can get quite a lot of info of the web. Great post thanks!
See also a related NYTimes news article.
Doctors would find this data very handy
visualization and thinking are almost the same
That projected peak in December is interesting. Especially if you'd like to know something about causes of the flu, preventing and curing it... like me! Here's what I think:
http://tessdoucet.wordpress.com/2008/11/19/blame-it-on-the-little-people
Stay fit!
There's a lot about some of the most common diseases that people don't know – for instance, a study from Oregon State University concluded that the flu virus survives best when the absolute humidity is low, like it usually is in winter. Absolute humidity is the ratio of actual water in the air. Your payday loans source cautions everyone to wash their hands regularly, because that's the best way to guard against infection. The better we all practice hygiene, the less likely we'll have to get payday loans to pay for a prescription.