Photo: flickr/arvindgrover
Epidemiologists are big fans of the internet - everything from Twitter to Google searches are fodder for tracking the path of disease epidemics in real time as they occur. Here, the researchers took a related approach: using OpenTable as a proxy for disease incidence. The idea is that when the flu season peaks, there will be an increase in available reservations at restaurants (people with the flu are usually too sick to go out to dinner). Indeed, they found some significant correlations between OpenTable reservations and known influenza activity. The takeaway? If you want to get that coveted reservation at the French Laundry, keep an eye on Google Flu Trends.
Guess Who's Not Coming to Dinner? Evaluating Online Restaurant Reservations for Disease Surveillance. "BACKGROUND: Alternative data sources are used increasingly to augment traditional public health surveillance systems. Examples include over-the-counter medication sales and school absenteeism. OBJECTIVE: We sought ...
