Residents of Kingston, Ontario, in Canada will soon know about any illness that hits their area because of Infection Watch Live, a mapping application on a website operated by health officials. Infection Watch Live maps illnesses, such as bronchitis and the stomach flu, in near real time based on reports from emergency rooms in and around Kingston. The application will generate summary maps of real-time respiratory and gastrointestinal data reported in emergency rooms. Online access to these maps will give health care providers, school officials, and Kingston area residents an at-a-glance picture of where to expect spikes in these illnesses. Having access to this data will provide school officials, family doctors, parents, and others with the information they need to prevent and plan for a possible spread of the illnesses.
For more information, visit http://www.kflapublichealth.ca/
Melissa Lawrence, Rutgers Student Intern, VERTICES, LLC
GIS Use in Public Health & Healthcare 