Google Conquers the Flu?

When people get sick these days, they often turn to the Web, Google in particular, to figure out what’s ailing them. Google is taking advantage of that common practice to help researchers track flu epidemics.  Flu Trends (google.org/flutrends/) keeps track of searches for flu-related terms (like “flu symptoms” and “the flu”). And when flu-like symptoms start appearing in a particular part of the country, searches for those terms by people who live in the area tend to spike.Researchers like Flu Trends because it’s cheap and easy to use. But they aren’t ready to throw out their other flu-detection methods just yet. Many plan to use Flu Trends in conjunction with data from drugstores, doctor’s offices, and ERs.

(Source: Slate)

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