Get Down With The Sickness.

April 26, 2007 4:35 PM

Who's feeling sick? Probably a whole lot of people around you by the looks of this service, which tracks illness around the country as people report their symptoms. Mostly US and European-centric at this stage, but as more people around the world report their symptoms that can begin to change.
posted by Effigy2000 (16 comments total)

Utterly, totally, spectacularly useless.
posted by docgonzo at 4:38 PM on April 26, 2007

I got a gold star for attendance in public school once. Will this post help me get another gold star?
posted by acro at 4:41 PM on April 26, 2007

How strange. Lots of runny noses in the Ohio Valley in spring. Shocking.
posted by dilettante at 4:42 PM on April 26, 2007

It's a nice idea, but it would take a public health eyeopener to get clinics or doctors to contribute, and make it useful.
posted by acro at 4:43 PM on April 26, 2007

This might work if ERs and doctors entered in aggregate numbers, but not if you're depending on the sick person to accurately self-report their symptoms.

People who are really, really sick won't be able to leave their bed. Hypochondriacs will be delighted.
posted by meowzilla at 4:45 PM on April 26, 2007

There's no selection for "blood shooting from eye sockets", so I just marked "headache".
posted by mr_crash_davis at 4:48 PM on April 26, 2007

they class "the trots" under "stomach ache"?!?!
I don't "ache" Ive got the Shits!!
posted by Megafly at 4:51 PM on April 26, 2007

Medgadget has an interesting perspective on it.
posted by numlok at 4:51 PM on April 26, 2007

Maybe Kaiser Permanente could work with them?
posted by acro at 4:51 PM on April 26, 2007

I'm far too sick to post myself as a statistic on being sick.
posted by po at 4:54 PM on April 26, 2007

From medgadget:

"A quick update on the WhoIsSick.org story. We have contacted BoingBoing's David Pescovitz, a celebrated science journalist and writer-in-residence for UC Berkeley's College of Engineering, for an explanation. Mr. Pescovitz, however, has stuck his head in the sand and has decided to ignore questions from us, as he really has no explanation. Referring to WhoIsSick.org as today's equivalent of Dr. John Snow's efforts to map cholera in London in 1854 shows fundamental lack of understanding by Mr. Pescovitz of what science is. Throwing questionably collected data on the map is not science. For BoingBoing, however, the definition of science seems to be any feel-good, user-generated content."

I am shocked -- shocked! -- to see that Cory and co have once again posted a shallow and poorly thought out article on their weblog.
posted by docgonzo at 4:57 PM on April 26, 2007

The problem with this site is that people are horrible at self-diagnosis. "Muscle ache (Body ache/Tired)" could mean pretty much anything you wanted it to.
posted by mkultra at 5:56 PM on April 26, 2007

Sickr
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 3:43 AM on April 27, 2007

Um .... how do you undo it when you're feeling better?
posted by scblackman at 6:03 AM on April 27, 2007

hypochondriacs everywhere - unite!
posted by JeNeSaisQuoi at 6:13 AM on April 27, 2007

Then there's this 44 year old lady in NY (can't figure out how to post to a single user, sorry) who claims she suffers from the following, then quotes Sonic Youth... uhm, I think we call this massively flawed data...

Symptoms: Runny nose Stuffy nose Sneeze,Cough Sore throat Fever Chills Head ache Dizzy Muscle ache Body ache Tired Stomach ache Nausea Vomit Diarrhea,Food poisoning Chicken pox Red eye,blurred vision,eye discharge eyes Sensitive light itchy burning eyes nose bleeding ear ringing ear Pain Hearing loss mouth Sores ulcers mouth Dry throat Hoarse Difficulty swallowing swollen Tonsils Bloody stool urine Constipation stomach gas Wheezing Racing heartbeat skin Rash sores Excessive sweating skin Cold clammy

Comments: I feel like I'm disappearing, getting smaller every day
posted by Scram at 5:11 PM on April 28, 2007