Twitter Can Help Health Officials Track Outbreaks

Sharing your health woes on social media can be beneficial for tracking disease outbreaks, a new study says.

Researchers at Brigham Young University found that Twitter's speed and volume can help health officials use the site as an early-warning system to monitor diseases.

Tweets with location information may allow officials to plot points on a map to detect a trend, then alert providers to gear up for a possible outbreak. Though accurate information is available for only about 15% of tweets containing GPS data, it's enough for a system to monitor key words like "fever" or "coughing" in a specific area. Check out the video, above, for more.

Twitter can also help health officials differentiate between actual diagnoses and self-reported symptoms like, "The doctor says I have the flu," explains Scott Burton, lead author of the study.

Burton and his team sampled 24 million tweets from 10 million unique users for the research.

It's not the first time the medical world has acknowledged the possibilities social media holds for the field. Researchers in Brazil also used Twitter to track dengue fever with real-time surveillance of data for individual cities, and systems like the Global Public Health Intelligence Network monitor websites and news wires to recognize the spread of disease.

BONUS: 8 Devices to Keep Flu Season Germs out of Your Life

1. 1. Violight UV Cell Phone Sanitizer

   The Violight Cell Phone Sanitizer uses germicidal UV rays to get those nasty germs off your stuff. It cleans not only your phone but your iPod, earbuds, anything that will fit into the basket.

   

2. 2. Violight Countertop Toothbrush Sanitizer Battery Powered

   The Violight Toothbrush Sanitizer makes sure you're not getting those nasty flu germs from your partner's toothbrush when they snuggle in the cup at night. The sanitizer kills 99.9% of germs.

   

3. 3. Cleanwave Sanitizing Wand

   The CleanWave is great for use on desktops, computer keyboards, remote controls and phones. The UV-C light wand says it kills up to 99.9% of germs.

   

4. 4. Logitech Washable Keyboard

   Here's one way to get the germs off a keyboard, wash it with soap and hot water. Logitech's Washable Keyboard can go for a dunk to remove the gunk.

   

5. 5. Nano UV Disinfectant Scanner

   The handheld, battery-operated Nano Scanner says it can protect you from infectious diseases from common cold and flu viruses to more serious viruses such as Asian bird flu, SARS viruses and E. coli.

   

6. 6. Self Sanitizing Keyboard

   Vioguard's anti-bacterial keyboard works like a turtle. When not in use, it retracts into its housing where two germicidal 25-watt ultraviolet lights bake bacteria, viruses, and mold in seconds. The technology kills at least 99.99% of bugs like flu, MRSA, and other contagions.

   

7. 8. Pocket Purifier

   Purely Product's Pocket Purifier uses ultraviolet light to eliminate 99.9% of germs that cause colds and flu, mold, fungus and other germs. The UV light in the handheld device deactivates the DNA of bacteria, viruses and other pathogens, destroying their ability to multiply. Small enough for moms to throw in a diaper bag to sanitize baby toys and changing surfaces.

   

8. 7. Healthy Night Light

   Purely's Healthy Night Light has a built-in ionizer so it freshens the air in the room while it provides light. It generates negative ions which remove dust and mold from the room.

   

Thumbnail photo courtesy of Flickr, mil8