Wikipedia hits help track flu spread

By Dan Harrison
Updated April 19 2014 - 7:08am, first published April 18 2014 - 8:04pm
Researchers saw a correlation between traffic to flu-related pages on Wikipedia and subsequent reports of illness by the Centres for Disease Control. Photo: David J. McIver, John S. Brownstein
Researchers saw a correlation between traffic to flu-related pages on Wikipedia and subsequent reports of illness by the Centres for Disease Control. Photo: David J. McIver, John S. Brownstein

The number of hits recorded on Wikipedia articles could track the spread of flu and other illnesses faster than existing systems, research says.