Chesapeake, Va. (WTKR) - The flu has reached widespread status across much of the United States and more and more folks are turning to technology to keep track of it.
Among the tracking features: FluView from the CDC and Flu Near You, administered by Healthmap of Boston Children's Hospital.
Lisa Engle is an epidemiologist with the Chesapeake Health Department.
She sees parallels between the way they track the flu through surveillance of folks who complain of symptoms at the hospital or acute care center and the way apps and social media are tracking it.
"If that’s how we track it makes sense that the social media that is used today – it does make sense that we will one day be able to track by some of these apps," Engle told NewsChannel 3's Todd Corillo Monday.
"If they know that the flu is there and they stay home if they are sick or they see these symptoms and all of a sudden they realize they are severely ill and they need to go in – that’s good. I mean any kind of knowledge ahead of time is good," she continued.
