Fitbit for flu . . . and other stories

Monitoring flu by Fitbit

A few years ago there was hope that internet search data and social media outlets could be used to monitor trends in infectious diseases. But they proved to be unreliable indicators because it was impossible to know whether activity was caused by people trying to find out about their own symptoms, or if it was just a reflection of heightened awareness. Data from wearable devices may get around the problem by using information about heart rate and sleep. Retrospectively evaluated against rates of flu-like illness reported by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, …