If you live in cooler climes (or in my case, near the sunny beaches of Canada), this time of year marks some fun rituals. Flu shots, chicken soup, and Buckley’s Cough Syrup are just as festive as the snow that blankets the city. While not fun for the flu sufferers, city public health officials see this time of year in a different light. Spikes in disease activity often come as a surprise, inundating emergency rooms and walk-in clinics with the relief-seeking masses. Being able to predict when those masses will turn up at your emergency ward has some distinct benefits. You can schedule the appropriate staff to ensure that people get the right attention promptly, and you can get a jump on pinpointing the causes of these outbreaks (food, water, the person beside you while you were trapped on the tarmac). So how do these medical oracles get their information? And what does Google have to do with it?

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