The Internet can help public health officials monitor disease outbreaks in distant countries, according to a team of researchers from Harvard Medical School and Children's Hospital Boston, Government Health IT reports.
Two years ago, the researchers developed an automated, real-time Web-based system, called HealthMap, that collects data on disease outbreaks through listserves, disease reporting networks and online media outlets, and then filters, integrates and classifies those data. A mapping feature displays emerging and ongoing disease outbreaks on a global map.
John Brownstein, lead researcher and an assistant professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, said the system aims to provide public health and medical personnel with real-time situational awareness of outbreaks.
The site is administered by Children's Hospitals and is available to the public at no cost. Frequent visitors to the Web site include officials at the World Health Organization, CDC, local health departments and traveling medical clinics, as well as international travelers.
The HealthMap researchers recently detailed the performance of the system and ongoing challenges in a July article of the National Library of Medicine's Public Library of Science Journal (Hayes, Government Health IT, 7/21).