HealthMap surveillance efforts illustrate global epidemiology of H1N1 spread
As H1N1 began to emerge in April 2009, HealthMap - an automated online disease tracking and mapping tool created by researchers in the Informatics Program at Children's Hospital Boston - was already collecting information about the virus and plotting that information on a map of the globe, creating a freely available, real-time, digestible display of the outbreak. An article published in the May 6, 2010 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) reviews HealthMap's H1N1 surveillance efforts and details the ability of the internet technology to support traditional public health infrastructures, using an interactive map created in partnership with the NEJM to exemplify the tool's value in disseminating information and providing an ongoing picture of global health, as well as retrospective analysis of the pandemic.