American Public Health Association teams with Children’s Hospital Boston and Skoll Global Threats Fund to unveil new influenza s

Printer-friendly versionPDF version

Washington, D.C., December7, 2011 –

Inpartnership with Children’s Hospital Boston and the Skoll Global Threats Fund,the American Public Health Association has launched a unique online trackingtool called “Flu Near You” thatdirectlyengages the public in an effort to help address the annual public health challengeof influenza. Based on the HealthMap platform developed at Children’s HospitalBoston, Flu Near You maps

influenzaactivity as volunteers self-report symptoms each week. As participation in the project grows andbecomes widespread across the United States, the open system will give healthpractitioners and public health authorities responsible for responding to theflu a better grasp of the full breadth of the flu’s impact and spread. 

“Current estimates of howmany Americans suffer from the flu every year don’t come close to measuring itsactual impact,” said John Brownstein, PhD, director of the ComputationalEpidemiology Group within the Informatics Program at Children’s Hospital Bostonand co-founder of HealthMap. “Thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of casesoccur but we don’t know it because they are never reported. This tool can helpinform a more comprehensive picture of real-time flu activity by mobilizing thepublic and affording them the opportunity to contribute their localized informationfor the benefit of the public as well as public health professionals taskedwith tracking the disease.”

According to the Centersfor Disease Control and Prevention, an average of 23,000 people in the U.S. dieevery year from the flu, but experts contend actual deaths could range from33,000 to 49,000.

“Flu Near You can be an invaluable surveillance tool that all members of acommunity, including public health officials, can rely on to help track thespread of flu locally and across the country,” said Mark Smolinski, MD, MPH,Director for Global Health at the Skoll Global Threats Fund.

In recognition ofNational Influenza Vaccination Week, Dec. 4-10, APHA is calling on its memberbase of nearly 30,000 public health professionals from across the country to jointhe site and compete in a challenge to recruit as many people as possible toparticipate. Those who sign up as participants in Flu Near You are asked to reporttheir flu symptoms, or lack thereof, through a weekly email survey that takesjust a few seconds to complete.

“This is an incrediblyexciting opportunity to bring thepublicinto public health, and APHA is pleased to be a part of this importantinitiative,” said Susan Polan, PhD, associate executive director of APHA.

To more fully test theutility of the new surveillance tool, and since participation is anonymous bydesign, the Flu Near You partners have pledged to make the data the sitecollects open to all. 

“APHA is well positionedto provide responsible messaging, leadership by example, and the ability toreach out to all sectors of society,” said Dr. Smolinski. “We are excited aboutpartnering with APHA and building on HealthMap’s experience in participatory diseasesurveillance.”

HealthMap was launchedfive years ago as an outbreak surveillance system that offers a real-time viewof emerging infectious disease threats around the world.

For moreinformation about HealthMap, visithttp://healthmap.org.

Formore about Flu Near You, visitwww.flunearyou.org.

For more about APHA,visitwww.apha.org. 

Founded in 1872, the APHA is the oldest, largest and most diverse organization of public health professionals in the world. The association aims to protect all Americans and their communities from preventable, serious health threats and strives to assure community-based health promotion and disease prevention activities and preventive health services are universally accessible in the

<?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = "ST1" /?>

. APHA represents a broad array of health providers, educators, environmentalists, policy-makers and health officials at all levels working both within and outside governmental organizations and educational institutions. More information is available at www.apha.org.

News Source : American Public Health Association teams with Children’s Hospital Boston and Skoll Global Threats Fund to unveil new influenza surveillance tool