Forecasting the Flu
- Becky Fogel for Science Friday October 16th, 2015
- Source: http://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/forecasting-the-flu/
In 2008, Google launched “Flu Trends.” It was an attempt to track the spread of influenza based on “aggregated search queries.” According to a 2015 blog post, Google Flu Trends will no longer continue with its own website. Rather, it will be providing data directly to infectious disease researchers at institutions like Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. One of those researchers is Jeffrey Shaman. He lead a team that won the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “Predict the Influenza Season Challenge” last year by creating a flu forecast.
