FluTracking
FluTracking is an online international surveillance system designed to monitor influenza and COVID-19 using crowdsourced data.[1]. FluTracking currently operates across four countries: Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Argentina. Starting in 2006 in the Hunter Region of NSW, Australia, FluTracking grew nationally before expanding internationally in 2018[2]. FluTracking is one of the data sources used by the Department of Health and Aged Care for the Australian Influenza Surveillance Report.
All FluTracking participants sign up voluntarily, and complete a short weekly survey. The survey asks participants about influenza-like-illness (ILI) symptoms, health seeking behaviours[3] and time off work. The survey also asks about influenza and COVID-19 vaccination[4]
From 2006 to 2019 these surveys were only collected during the Australian Influenza season (May to October[5]), however due to the emergence of COVID-19 participants were able to complete the survey all ready round from 2020 onwards[6].
Data collected from the FluTracking project has been used to inform and describe the burden of illness caused by ILI, as well as accurately describe the depth and breadth of flu/COVID-19 waves[7]. It has also been used to predict the behaviour of influenza seasons in other regions.
Early beginnings in Australia
FluTracking was developed and launched in July, 2006. An invitation to participate was sent to approximately 7,000 healthcare workers from the Hunter New England Local Health District, with approximately 400 signing up to be “FluTrackers”. These participants completed surveys asking if they had experienced ILI symptoms in the past 7 days.
Between 2006 and 2009 participant numbers on average doubled annually. The higher participation rate from 2008 onwards was attributed to a new feature which allowed participants to answer the survey on behalf of others who resided in the same household.
FluTracking participation has continued to grow since, evidenced by the average of over 60,000 responses received per week in 2021[8]. The large number of participants who completed their weekly surveys helped to describe Australia's earlier than predicted influenza wave in 2022.
International growth
In May 2018 FluTracking launched in New Zealand. In its first year over 6,000 people registered with FluTracking. A participation rate of 1 in every 1,200 New Zealanders was observed with 4,000 people regularly responding to the survey each week.
Participant growth has grown exponentially with more than 115,000 people having registered with FluTracking in New Zealand to date. In 2021, each week, tens of thousands of New Zealand participants completed their surveys, providing valuable data for analysis.
In March 2022, FluTracking expanded into Argentina, after launching in Hong Kong earlier the same year.
References
- ↑ Parrella, Adriana (November 2009). "ASPREN surveillance system for influenza-like illness: A comparison with FluTracking and the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System". Australian Family Physician. 38 (11): 932–937. PMID 19893847.
- ↑ Harvey, Emily P.; Trent, Joel A.; Mackenzie, Frank; Turnbull, Steven M.; O’Neale, Dion R. J. (2022-01-01). "Calculating incidence of Influenza-like and COVID-like symptoms from Flutracking participatory survey data". Methods X. 9: 101820. doi:10.1016/j.mex.2022.101820. ISSN 2215-0161. PMC 9381980 Check
|pmc=value (help). PMID 35993031 Check|pmid=value (help). - ↑ Template:Cite medrxiv
- ↑ Moberley, Sarah A; Carlson, Sandra J; Durrheim, David N; Dalton, Craig B (2020-07-15). "Identifying early changes in influenza vaccination uptake following a government funded immunisation program using a participatory community surveillance program". Communicable Diseases Intelligence. 44. doi:10.33321/cdi.2020.44.57. ISSN 2209-6051. PMID 32664830 Check
|pmid=value (help). Unknown parameter|s2cid=ignored (help) - ↑ Liu, Dennis; Mitchell, Lewis; Cope, Robert C.; Carlson, Sandra J.; Ross, Joshua V. (2020-12-01). "Elucidating user behaviours in a digital health surveillance system to correct prevalence estimates". Epidemics. 33: 100404. doi:10.1016/j.epidem.2020.100404. ISSN 1755-4365. PMID 33002805 Check
|pmid=value (help). Unknown parameter|s2cid=ignored (help) - ↑ MacDonald, Joanne; Conversation, The. "How do we detect if coronavirus is spreading in the community?". medicalxpress.com. Retrieved 2023-01-10.
- ↑ Moss, Robert; Zarebski, Alexander E.; Carlson, Sandra J.; McCaw, James M. (March 2019). "Accounting for Healthcare-Seeking Behaviours and Testing Practices in Real-Time Influenza Forecasts". Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease. 4 (1): 12. doi:10.3390/tropicalmed4010012. ISSN 2414-6366. PMC 6473244. PMID 30641917.
- ↑ Joshi, S.; D’Onise, K.; Nolan, R.; Davis, S.; Glass, K.; Lokuge, K. (2021-12-20). "Acute respiratory infection symptoms and COVID-19 testing behaviour: results based on South Australian health surveys". BMC Public Health. 21 (1): 2307. doi:10.1186/s12889-021-12359-3. ISSN 1471-2458. PMC 8685806 Check
|pmc=value (help). PMID 34930193 Check|pmid=value (help).
External links
- FluTracking Australia & New Zealand Website
- FluTracking Hong Kong Website
- FluTracking Argentina Website
- FluTracking Respiratory Illness map (Aus & NZ)
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