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Online tool helps track dengue spread

Chan E. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2011;doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0001206.

Web-based search data can be a viable source of information for detecting and monitoring outbreaks of dengue, according to data published online this week.

A team from the Children’s Hospital Informatics Program, led by John Brownstein, PhD, of Children’s Hospital of Boston, together with collaborators at Google, published findings they derived from an online dengue tracking tool. The data show that, when compared against available national surveillance data, Web-based search data are a viable, rapid source of information for early detection and monitoring of dengue outbreaks.

“By using search data, we’re tapping into a freely available, instant dataset that can be gathered, analyzed and released much more quickly and at much lower effort and cost than through traditional national surveillance and reporting programs,” Brownstein, who is co-developer of the HealthMap and related DengueMap global disease surveillance systems, said in a press release. “The kind of information the tool provides can help direct public health officials target interventions aimed at mosquito control and disease prevention, such as education campaigns, as early as possible.”

The research team selected Bolivia, Brazil, India, Indonesia and Singapore as the basis for its study because each has a sufficient level of endemic dengue transmission to provide baseline data, a large base of Internet users, and national data collected via passive reporting or sentinel site surveillance against which to assess the tool. For each country, the researchers “developed a univariate linear model by fitting a time series of the fraction of Google search query volume for specific dengue-related queries from that country against a time series of official dengue case counts for a time-frame within 2003-2010.”

The dengue tool follows the methodology of Google Flu Trends, an application developed by Google and the CDC that mines website search data for patterns that assist public health officials in tracking influenza outbreaks.

Disclosure: Dr. Brownstein is the co-developer of the HealthMap technology.

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