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      Using internet searches for influenza surveillance.

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          Abstract

          The Internet is an important source of health information. Thus, the frequency of Internet searches may provide information regarding infectious disease activity. As an example, we examined the relationship between searches for influenza and actual influenza occurrence. Using search queries from the Yahoo! search engine ( http://search.yahoo.com ) from March 2004 through May 2008, we counted daily unique queries originating in the United States that contained influenza-related search terms. Counts were divided by the total number of searches, and the resulting daily fraction of searches was averaged over the week. We estimated linear models, using searches with 1-10-week lead times as explanatory variables to predict the percentage of cultures positive for influenza and deaths attributable to pneumonia and influenza in the United States. With use of the frequency of searches, our models predicted an increase in cultures positive for influenza 1-3 weeks in advance of when they occurred (P < .001), and similar models predicted an increase in mortality attributable to pneumonia and influenza up to 5 weeks in advance (P < .001). Search-term surveillance may provide an additional tool for disease surveillance.

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          Author and article information

          Journal
          Clin Infect Dis
          Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America
          University of Chicago Press
          1537-6591
          1058-4838
          Dec 01 2008
          : 47
          : 11
          Affiliations
          [1 ] Department of Internal Medicine, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, USA.
          Article
          10.1086/593098
          18954267
          f514b12f-b4cb-4213-b1c8-ce36eae92adf
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