Tuesday, 10 December 2013

Flu-Forecaster – Know When Influenza Epidemic Is Hitting Your Region

Researchers at the Columbia University, Health department have formulated a flu-predictor that can highlight peak cases as early as 9 weeks. Flu-forecaster could be helpful in preparing people for the yearly influenza epidemic, which is usually at its peak from December to April. Maximum flu cases are recorded during this time.

This particular knowledge of a certain region being affected by influenza endemic is useful for various reasons; primarily, it makes people more cautious in maintaining hygiene so that they can avoid getting hit by flu. This is especially important for infants and the elderly lot.  Moreover, it allows public health officials and doctors to arrange for influenza vaccines and medications beforehand.
The model incorporates flu-related search data from Google Flu Trends and from the Centers for Disease Control. It also follows strategies used in one of the most accurate flu-predictor: weather predictions, in order to substantiate the indicators of the peak flu seasons. These trends collect data from physical characteristics, in this case how influenza spreads from one person to another, along with the historical background of the previous infection trends. On a weekly basis this flu forecaster integrates the number of reported flu cases by comparing it with its own forecast.

Bentham Science Publishers is a well reputed STM industry, which has a diverse collection of eBooks and journals available on topics varying from science, medicine, drug discovery, technology and the like. One of its journals is “International Journal of Sensors, Wireless Communications and Control”  which has articles related to this topic.

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