Who Is Sick? New Site Lets You Find Out Before It's You

Uh oh. You’re getting that scratchy feeling in the back of your throat. Allergies? Common cold? Or could it be something worse that’s going around? Better figure it out before you promise to meet that deadline next week. “Calling in sick” is a luxury that a web worker can rarely afford. Wouldn’t you like to know about that bug that everyone seems to be coming down with before it hits you? That could tell you whether you should be toughing this one out or heading to the doctor’s office for stronger-than-over-the-counter help. There are countless sites that provide education on what to do when you’re sick, or how to prevent certain illnesses. But what about those annoying illnesses that you’re going to get simply because you’re in the same space as someone who is sick?

WhoIsSick is a new web application that uses Google Maps to plot local user-reported health data into what looks like Trivial Pursuit icons. Plug in your zip code and see what symptoms other uses have reported in your area. In addition to searching by location, you can filter your results further by specific symptoms, time since sickness report and even the age or gender of the person.

As the site relies on user data, it will only be successful if it can catch on and folks think of heading there before they hit the pillow. It doesn’t make a difference to me right now that 7 neighbors are reporting that they too have a bit of a sore throat and a runny nose. But if there were 500 in my zip code with similar symptoms, I’d be stocking up on the Purel and vitamins. The site isn’t designed to track serious illnesses. Rather it’s meant to give you a bit of a heads up for more routine colds, flus and stomach bugs so you can wash your hands extra carefully for a few days, “bloody stool or urine” filter notwithstanding.

What do you think? Useful new site or hypochondriac central?

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