Narrow screen masthead
Masthead
  • About us
  • Stories
  • Diseases & Vaccines
    • Diseases
    • Vaccines for me
    • Glossary
  • FAQ
  • COVID-19 vaccines
  • 10th Anniversary
  • Videos & Resources
    • Videos
    • Useful sites
  • Contact us
  • Viewallstories
    • Are winter viruses easing after months of misery?

      Are winter viruses easing after months of misery?

      Future of immunisation: 100 vaccines in the pipeline

      Future of immunisation: 100 vaccines in the pipeline

      Pneumonia: we must protect people in marginalised groups

      Pneumonia: we must protect people in marginalised groups

      Will warmer climate mean more infectious diseases?

      Will warmer climate mean more infectious diseases?

      Can this generation end cervical cancer in Europe?

      Can this generation end cervical cancer in Europe?

      Penile cancer: ‘We need to talk about HPV and men’

      Penile cancer: ‘We need to talk about HPV and men’

      EU health ministers aim to improve vaccination at all ages

      EU health ministers aim to improve vaccination at all ages

      New study: Most Europeans trust vaccines

      New study: Most Europeans trust vaccines

      After COVID: Will Serbia embrace life-course immunisation?

      After COVID: Will Serbia embrace life-course immunisation?

      Antimicrobial resistance: can vaccines help?

      Antimicrobial resistance: can vaccines help?

      Qatar World Cup prepared for risk of outbreaks

      Qatar World Cup prepared for risk of outbreaks

      Under-vaccinated kids: Where are Europe’s ‘lost children’?

      Under-vaccinated kids: Where are Europe’s ‘lost children’?

      To remain polio-free, Europe must avoid complacency

      To remain polio-free, Europe must avoid complacency

      France gives pharmacists new vaccination powers

      France gives pharmacists new vaccination powers

      Asthma & COPD patients face higher flu risk

      Asthma & COPD patients face higher flu risk

      How are flu vaccines updated?

      How are flu vaccines updated?

      Is there a meningitis vaccine?

      Is there a meningitis vaccine?

      Millions of ‘zero dose’ children miss out on vaccines

      Millions of ‘zero dose’ children miss out on vaccines
      View all stories
  • Related stories
    • Related stories

      Family doctors are key to protecting against flu

      Family doctors are key to protecting against flu

      Gearing up for the new flu season

      Gearing up for the new flu season

Sponsored by

Vaccines Europe

Twitter: the new flu-tracking tool?

Gary Finnegan

Gary Finnegan

July 29th, 2011

Gary Finnegan
Share

‘Social media websites can pick up outbreaks of flu or measles faster than health authorities can, but is it too soon to put traditional health surveillance systems out to pasture? ’

TwitterTwitter, a ‘microblogging’ site which launched just five years ago, has quickly become a major player in the social media landscape, challenging the dominance of Facebook and eclipsing MySpace.

Amid the 150 million tweets published by Twitter every day, a massive bank of data is produced. Some of it is about music, some of it is about products, some about politics, and some about what people are eating for breakfast.

But when there’s a measles outbreak or a flu epidemic, people post information about their symptoms, their concerns, and their treatments.

Far from being useless online noise, these tweets can be used as an online tracker for disease outbreaks – in real time. By looking at online trends in patient-reported flu-like symptoms, one million anecdotes can provide useful information on the location and severity of a disease outbreak.

Even at the height of a pandemic, when the full arsenal of health authorities’ surveillance system has been mobilised, the data published by health authorities is a couple of weeks behind the real trend.

This is where online data mining can help. Google Flu Trends has been shown to reveal the pattern of seasonal flu cases reported by health agencies. Official data based on confirmed cases of flu fits neatly over the chart produced by Google’s online monitoring.

This matters. Having two weeks’ notice of a pandemic gives more time to prepare and improves the likelihood that the disease can be contained. Google flu trends

A word of caution

However, some have cautioned against relying on Google Flu Tends or Twitter given that influenza-like symptoms may not caused by the flu virus. There is also the risk that health scares will produce an online ‘buzz’ about a particular subject, even when it may be a false alarm.

So, perhaps health authorities will hold off before abandoning their tried and testing networks of infectious disease reporting.

Having said that, analyzing the data contained in millions of tweets is a new science and will become more precise over time. The reliability also strengthens as the data set grows, meaning that the increasing volume of tweets, status updates and blog posts will continue to provide a more robust information source.

The question is: should health authorities be mining social media sites for data to support their traditional disease surveillance systems?

Further reading:

Tracking the flu by tracking the tweets

Twitter used to predict flu outbreak

Detecting influenza outbreaks by analyzing Twitter messages

Follow us on Twitter @VaccinesToday

RELATED STORIES

Are winter viruses easing after months of misery?January 30, 2023
Asthma & COPD patients face higher flu riskOctober 14, 2022

Comment

  1. VaccinesToday (@VaccinesToday) (@VaccinesToday)

    VaccinesToday (@VaccinesToday) (@VaccinesToday)

    August 22nd, 2011

    Twitter: the new flu-tracking tool? http://t.co/fleRUxR

Next

Share

Share story

Previous

© Copyright 2022, All Rights Reserved.

Guiding principles

Privacy policy

© Copyright 2022, All Rights Reserved.

  • Home
  • About us
  • Stories
  • Diseases & Vaccines
    • Diseases
    • Vaccines for me
    • Glossary
  • FAQ
  • COVID-19 vaccines
  • 10th Anniversary
  • Videos & Resources
    • Videos
    • Useful sites
  • Contact us