Researchers at San Diego State University collected and analyzed tweets containing the word “flu” within a 17-mile radius of 11 select U.S. cities using a geo-targeted social media search tool.
Researchers compared the rate of tweets containing the word “flu” with weekly influenza-like illnesses reported by physicians to city and county health departments.
They found that for the majority of cities, the tweet rates and reported ILI rates followed the same trends and increased and decreased at approximately the same time.
Researchers suggest using social media to track incidences of the flu could quicken the response time for public health departments and healthcare providers, though further studies are needed to expand upon their findings.
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