Next season the swine flu, the Internet sites of mining, such as Facebook, Twitter and Google News can provide a faster way to control the spread of H1N1. Reports of official agencies like the World Health Organization (WHO) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), may be in various parts of the world in seconds. That’s the idea behind a new generation of tools for disease surveillance, including HealthMap, an interactive online system that trawl the Internet for news, both formal and informal, following a virus in near real time.

During the spread of global pandemic of influenza A (H1N1) last year, A, HealthMap was able to catch one of the first reports of the disease, well before the outbreak be confirmed by the agencies governamentais.Os researchers kept the system running throughout the flu season in 2009 and found that, on average, from country to country, there was a period of lag of 12 days between anecdotal reports and confirmation of suspected cases of H1N1 virus formal. After the last wave of outbreaks of H1N1, the researchers analyzed the data and found that periods of delay coincided with the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) – the richer the country, the faster was the response.

The pandemic of H1N1 last year was an unprecedented opportunity to test the Internet as a dynamic resource for controlling a disease that particularly fast-spreading. At the height of the pandemic, the Internet was flooded with reports every minute from informal sources such as news channels, blogs and other sites, well before official agencies could confirm suspected cases.

Today, the WHO and CDC are using HealthMap every day to help determine the best way to control and manipulate a H1N1no future. HealthMap also monitors the release of 200 other diseases, like dengue fever and FMD. The team recently launched a Brownstein iPhone application HealthMap customizing for a specific user. The application shows the global positioning of outbreaks with a flag in the region. Both the website and the iPhone informs users of any type of flu cases we know of, or any symptoms that may be suffering this can also be used to monitor the disease. These are some features that technology can provide to health.