The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention is working with online search giant Baidu to tap its huge user database to help forecast flu outbreaks. Big data will play a major role in safeguarding and improving public health。
人们生病时,会通过网络搜索引擎搜索相关症状或用药、治疗方案(symptom and medication)。如果对人们的搜索关键词进行监测,同时比对IP地址和电话号码等数据便可预测哪些地区可能会爆发流感(flu outbreak)。大数据预测到未来的流感疫情后,还需与流感监测网络的实际疫情监测数据反复比对,验证一致,才能逐渐投入使用。