From February 17-18th, Infonaut COO Matt McPherson will be a presenter at the CODOGEOSIM workshop in Ottawa. On invitation from PHAC , Matt will be leading a discussion on Geospatial Infectious Disease Simulations: An Analysis of Users and Their Needs at the Local Level :

“The ability to model outbreaks based on actual underlying data in a geospatial environment enables local authorities to more accurately simulate the impact of outbreak events and to test and visualize the effects of intervention scenarios. A user needs analysis was conducted for a proposed geospatial infectious disease simulation tool to identify: user groups; information needs of users; user and project priorities; demand for such a product and its usefulness within the user groups; user-friendly platforms for routine use of the tool; and the different diseases and/or scenarios for which the tool would be helpful.”

You have seen it in movies such as Outbreak, in which sophisticated technology allows scientists and doctors to watch as areas turn to red, signalling they are infected by an outbreak. Now that sophisticated tool is available to everyone, from the comfort of their own homes.

At a news conference yesterday, Kingston Frontenac Lennox and Addington Public Health launched Infectionwatch Live, a web-based tool that will allow members of the public to monitor the presence of respiratory or gastrointestinal illnesses in the area.

The maps are broken down by age and illness and cover a population of about 500,000.

The original Syndromic surveillance program began in 2004, headed by Dr. Kieran Moore, a local family physician, through Queen’s University. In the last 12 months, the site was modified after receiving a $150,000 grant from Geo Connections, a federally funded granting agency.

“I think people will find it a useful tool to understand what is going on around them and why their kids are coming home sick and being able to pre-plan that exposure,” Moore said.

“Teachers can better understand absenteeism rates if they know what kind of illnesses are in the area.”

The system is unique within North America, Moore said. “We monitor 24/7 … we are the only site that gives a daily map on a community basis.”

The idea is to give more information to communities at a neighbourhood level and allow people to make decisions based on the most up-to-date data.

Read more at the Kingston Whig-Standard.