Seasonal flu may be tracked with new website

The spread of seasonal flu across the State may be mapped more effectively with a new website which has gone “live” this week.

The website, flusurvey.ie, has been established as a research collaboration between NUI Galway (NUIG), the HSE/Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) and international partners in the EU-wide Influenzanet project.

The system relies on voluntary input, but those who register will able to find out how many other cases of flu are recorded in their area.

"This new project will demonstrate the potential for national self-reporting systems, and the approach can be extended for surveillance of other diseases," project leader Dr Jim Duggan of NUIG's college of engineering and informatics, and Ryan Institute researcher, says.

The project has been welcomed by Dr Darina O’Flanagan of the HSE/HPSC as a “useful addition to flu surveillance in Ireland”. flusurvey.ie