Microsoft hosts H1N1 swine flu screening site

Stephen Withers
Friday, 16 October 2009 09:08

Your IT - Home IT

Wondering if you need medical attention for a suspected case of the flu? A site hosted by Microsoft and using an algorithm developed by specialists at a medical school may provide the answer.

The H1N1 Response Center is intended to help people with flu symptoms decide whether they need to seek medical assistance.

If people sit around in hospital or doctor's waiting rooms 'just in case', there's a risk they will catch the flu from another patient that really does have it.

And unnecessary attendance at healthcare providers delays the delivery of care to those who really need it.

So doctors at Emory University School of Medicine developed an algorithm to help people decide whether to seek medical care according to their symptoms and risk factors.

Input was obtained from experts in public health, clinical medicine, health education, and infectious diseases, including those skilled in translating medical information into plain language.

Emory's SORT (Strategy for Off-site Rapid Triage) has been endorsed by the American College of Emergency Physicians, and has been adopted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

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