Internet Searches used for Epidemic Tracking

Internet users have grown accustomed to using Google to search for all kinds of information: the definition of a word, the latest news about a celebrity, or the possible cause of an ache or pain. Now it turns out that Google may be one of the more powerful tools for predicting disease outbreakssome say even more powerful than the best tools of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

In 2008 Google launched Google Flu Trends, an application that compiles aggregated data from key word searches for clinical terms, such as thermometer, chest congestion, muscle aches, or flu symptoms. Google reports the data on a website, which then provides an early warning system for the locations of new flu outbreaks. Because the data are collected from searches performed each day, trends in flu symptoms become apparent much more quickly than when they are based on data reported during office visits or in lab reports from physicians around the country. When the CDC compared actual cases over the course of a year with Googles findings, the data from the two sources matched.

Is there any possible downside to this approach to data collection? How might data collected in this way not be representative of a particular population?

TIL for Deep Dive 1: Economic (Individual)

TIL for Deep Dive 1: Economic (Individual)

Today I Learned (TIL) for Deep Dive 1:  Mapping the Economic Landscape
Based on the industry you currently work in, which two economic indicators (other than the indicator your team prepared) should you pay the most attention to?  Why?
Give the industry, the indicators, and why.

Industry: Manufacturers New Orders

(The ppt has the indicator that team prepared)

Contaminated Raw Milk Case Study

Two cases of laboratory-confirmed infection with Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium were reported to the Pennsylvania Department of Health (PDH) in February 2007. Both patients reported consuming unpasteurized, or raw, milk from the same dairyDairy A, located in York County, Pennsylvania. At the same time, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA) received several reports of diarrheal illness associated with consumption of raw milk from Dairy A. (In Pennsylvania, the PDA regulates raw-milk sales, issuing permits to dairies that adhere to milk sanitation regulations and displaying public notices explaining the potential hazards of consuming raw milk).

On February 26, the PDH and the PDA initiated an investigation to identify the source of the salmonellosis outbreak and to determine how many cases could be traced to the initial source. Samples taken from the raw-milk bulk tank at Dairy A yielded S. enterica Typhimurium genetically identical to that seen in the patients. Stool samples of patients and family members were also tested for the presence of the pathogen, and food histories were obtained for each patient. By July 14, a total of 29 cases of diarrheal illness caused by S. enterica Typhimurium and associated with consumption of raw milk from Dairy A had been identified and grouped into three distinct time periods.

How do you think milk can become contaminated by Salmonella, an organism that colonizes the digestive tract? How can milk be tested for contamination?

Podcast Assignment

For this activity, you will listen to a podcast selected from “Special Education Matters,” a series dedicated to providing helpful information to parents/guardians navigating the world of special education. It covers a range of topics!

Visit the website: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/special-education-matters/id1326044291

Or go to Podcasts from your phone and search for “Special Education Matters Michael Boll.”

Choose any episode based on a topic that you’re interested in. Listen to it carefully and take notes.

Once you are done, you will go to Discussions and summarize what you learned from the podcast. Be sure to tell the title of the episode, give the main points of the episode, and also discuss how it connects to (or contradicts) what you’ve learned in class or your own experiences. It should end up being a paragraph or two long. Also, respond to a classmate and express thoughts on their summary and/or tell how your episode was related to theirs. Don’t respond to someone who listened to the same episode as you :).

40 points for your original discussion thread.

10 points for your response to a classmate.