Gripenet: an internet-based system to monitor influenza-like illness uniformly across Europe

Abstract

Gripenet has been monitoring the activity of influenza-like-illness (ILI) with the aid of volunteers via the internet in the Netherlands and Belgium since 2003 and in Portugal since 2005. In contrast with the traditional system of sentinel networks of mainly primary care physicians coordinated by the European Influenza Surveillance Scheme (EISS), Gripenet obtains its data directly from the population. Any resident of the three countries can participate in Gripenet by completing an application form on the appropriate websites (http://www.gripenet.pt), which contains various medical, geographic and behavioural questions. Participants report weekly on the website any symptoms they have experienced since their last visit. ILI incidence is determined on the basis of a uniform case definition.In the 2006/2007 season, 19,623 persons participated in Gripenet in the Netherlands, 7,025 in Belgium and 3,118 in Portugal. The rise, peak and decline of ILI activity occurred at similar times according to Gripenet and EISS. However, ILI attack rates in the Netherlands (6.6%), Belgium (6.1%) and Portugal (5.6%) were remarkably more similar in Gripenet than in EISS (0.8%, 3.9%, and 0.6% respectively).Monitoring ILI activity with the direct participation of volunteers provides similar incidence curves compared to the traditional system coordinated by EISS. Whereas EISS provides an established system whose data is validated by virology tests, Gripenet is a fast and flexible monitoring system whose uniformity allows for direct comparison of ILI rates between countries. A current objective of Gripenet is to engage more European countries.

Effectiveness of 2012–2013 influenza vaccine against influenza-like illness in general population

“…In order to include in the analyses only individuals who have participated regularly (active participants) during the influenza epidemic period, we applied the following inclusion criteria: completion of at least three weekly questionnaires separated by at least 4 d 43,44 ; and completion of at least one weekly questionnaire before the beginning of the epidemic period and after the end of the epidemic period; and completion of at least one weekly questionnaire / 15 d during the epidemic period. The dates considered for the epidemic period were the one determined by the French Sentinelles network (GP surveillance system) which monitors ILI, defined as a sudden fever >39 °C (102 °F) with myalgia and respiratory signs.…”

Mining of Sensor Data in Healthcare: A Survey

“…Similarly, the Automated Epidemiologic Geotemporal Integrated Surveillance System (AEGIS), developed by Children Hospital Boston, involves Internetbased data collection, management, and analysis systems to produce timely estimates of incidence. Almost 30,000 residents of Belgium, the Netherlands, and Portugal voluntarily report on their influenza symptoms on a weekly basis at the Gripenet web sites [117].…”

MEDCollector: Multisource Epidemic Data Collector

“…Systems that use passive data collection mechanisms, such as Gripenet [4] and Google Flu Trends [2], provide interfaces to their users who voluntarily submit their data. On the other hand, active data collection systems, such as Healthmap [1], use crawlers that browse the Web through hyperlinks and existing web services.…”