Researchers from Google and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that search engine data can be very useful in accurately measure the number of people currently infected by the influenza virus.

They claim Google's search data can provide accurate, real time estimates of current flu infection rates with almost no delay.

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Flu infection rates are normally produced after a delay of one week, according to official reports.

Many have criticized the method of measurement and point to the case of Google Flu Trends. In 2013, measurements provided by Google were found to be higher than the measurements provided by the CDC.

Researchers from the University of Warwick in the U.K have argued that search data works hand in hand with data reported by the CDC.

They intend to monitor the connection between both data sets and integrate them to improve measurements using a model they call "adaptive nowcasting".

Tobias Preis, an associate professor of Behavioral Science and Finance at the university's Business School, said their results show that dismissing this data is rather like throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

"It's true that simply using the number of searches as an estimate of flu levels can result in misleading figures," he said.

"However, simple models can be built to watch out for increases in searches that do not correspond to increases in reports of flu, and which use this information to improve upcoming estimates."

Influenza, a word derived from the Italian word "influence," was originally attributed to the influences of astronomical phenomena. The word was later modified to 'influence of the cold," following the evolution of medical thought.

The common symptoms of the flu virus include fever, headache, sore throat, chills, coughing and muscle pain.

Large Information collected from the Internet is also known as Big Data. Big Data is now being used to analyze diseases and virus infections for prevention. 

TagsCenters for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, influenza, Flu, University of Warwick, UK, Behavioral Science and Finance, Business School, Astrology