Influenzanet

Influenzanet is a syndromic surveillance system that monitors the activity of influenza-like illness (ILI) with the help of volunteers via the Internet. This innovative surveillance system is based on the voluntary online participation of the population who, on a weekly basis, respond to an internet questionnaire about flu symptoms.

During the winter 2003/2004 season, the Netherlands and Belgium launched the first Influenzanet - De Grote Griepmeting[1] - which attracted over 30,000 participants in the first year.[2] The Dutch Great Influenza Survey has been carried out yearly since then. It was implemented in Portugal for the 2005/2006 season;[3] this was followed by the Italians with Influweb in 2008,[4] and then by the French version called GrippeNet in 2012.[5]

With the threat of a new pandemic influenza, three other countries joined this project in 2009, with the implementation of Gripenet Brazile,[6] in Brasil; Reporta in Mexico;[7] and the Flusurvey in the United Kingdom.[8] In Australia, a comparable project called Flutracking started in 2006. "Flutrackers" complete a 10 - 15 second online survey about flu-like symptoms. In 2019 Flutracking had over 50,000 weekly participants.[9] Since 2018 Flutracking has expanded into New Zealand, Hong Kong and Argentina.

  1. ^ "De Grote GriepMeting" (in Dutch). Degrotegriepmeting.nl. Archived from the original on 2013-08-23. Retrieved 2013-07-01.
  2. ^ Marquet, RL; Bartelds AI; van Noort S; Koppeschaar C; Paget J; Schellevis FG; van der Zee J (1 July 2006). "Internet-based monitoring of influenza-like illness (ILI) in the general population of the Netherlands during the 2003–2004 influenza season". BMC Public Health. 6: 242. doi:10.1186/1471-2458-6-242. PMC 1609118. PMID 17018161.
  3. ^ "Gripenet" (in Portuguese). Gripenet.pt. Archived from the original on 2013-05-31. Retrieved 2013-07-01.
  4. ^ "Influweb" (in Italian). Influweb.it. Retrieved 2013-07-01.
  5. ^ "Accueil" (in French). grippenet.fr. Retrieved 2013-07-01.
  6. ^ http://www.gripenet.com.br Archived May 15, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ "REPORTA: Sistema Ciudadano de Monitoreo de Enfermedades Respiratorias" (in Spanish). Reporta.c3.org.mx. Archived from the original on 2013-10-31. Retrieved 2013-07-01.
  8. ^ "fLU sURVEY". Flusurvey. Retrieved 2013-07-01.
  9. ^ "FluTracking". Flutracking.net. Retrieved 2013-07-01.