The reporting units submit their reports to the next level every Monday. The cases identified from Monday to Sunday are reported using different forms on successive Mondays. The ‘L’ or laboratory form is filled at laboratories (both public and private) and reports 12 types of laboratory confirmed cases. The ‘P’ or the presumptive form is filled by medical officers of various health facilities (from primary health centres to tertiary care hospitals), including private medical practitioners, based on clinical examination. The ‘S’ form includes suspected cases based on syndromic surveillance done by health workers at a health subcentre and its community, which covers a population of 3,000 to 5,000. Under the IDSP, three types of forms are to be submitted, namely ‘S’, ‘P’, and ‘L’ forms. This study was conducted with the primary aim of evaluating the temporal correlation between Google Trends and conventional surveillance data generated for diseases reported under the IDSP in Haryana and Chandigarh, India. This is first study of its kind to assess the feasibility of using Internet-based surveillance systems for the prediction of disease outbreaks in India. It is crucial to study the application of this tool for the surveillance of communicable diseases in India, particularly those listed under the IDSP. Studies from other parts of the world suggest that Google Trends can be a useful tool for disease surveillance. Therefore, this approach is becoming more relevant in the context of resource-constrained countries with already overburdened health systems. Additionally, this near real-time technique can be implemented within the scope of existing infrastructure and human resources. It can estimate the magnitude of outbreaks in their prodromal stages and produce timely information. The application of this data for monitoring systems of interest is called ‘nowcasting’. Targeted sources include Internet-search metrics, online news stories, social network data, and blog/microblog data. ĭata generated from queries fed into search engines is recorded and can be used for surveillance purposes as it is used for marketing purpose. Recent studies have also shown that the Internet is among the primary sources of information for the population actively using the Internet. A large proportion of internet users go online to search for medical or health-related information.
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In the present decade, teledensity in India is rapidly increasing, and the internet has emerged as an indispensable need of people. An Internet-based novel surveillance system led by Internet search behaviour of the community has recently emerged as a promising technique. Therefore, any system that can supplement the existing system in gathering timely intelligence on infectious diseases may reduce the impact of unwarranted outbreaks. It takes at least 7 to 10 days for the central surveillance unit to recognise an outbreak through the current process of reporting. The data obtained using S (syndrome), P (presumptive), and L (laboratory) forms flow from bottom to top, i.e., community to state/central level. This portal has facilities for surveillance and monitoring of disease trends and responds to outbreaks through trained rapid response teams (RRTs). The IDSP is a one-stop portal where almost 97% of Indian districts report disease surveillance data for 22 notifiable epidemic-prone diseases. The Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) of India ( ) was launched in November 2004 as a project and was later converted to a programme. Prompt detection is a cornerstone for the control and prevention of infectious diseases.