• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, August 1, 2011

The same qualities that make social media an attractive ad platform recommend it as a communications channel to reach the general public during public health emergencies, according to an article in the New England Journal of Medicine by Dr. Raina M. Merchant, an emergency physician and assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Pearlman School of Medicine.

The article, "Integrating Social Media into Emergency-Preparedness Efforts," notes the role played by social media for disseminating public health-related information in situations as diverse as the H1N1 flu epidemic in this country, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Haiti's 2010 earthquake, and the 2011 Egyptian uprising.

"Clearly, social media are changing the way people communicate not only in their day-to-day lives, but also during disasters that threaten public health," Merchant and her co-authors write. "Engaging with and using emerging social media may well place the emergency-management community, including medical and public health professionals, in a better position to respond to disasters."

For example, during the 2009 H1N1 flu epidemic, the Department of Health and Human Services hosted a "Mommycast" on YouTube (which could also be downloaded as an iTunes video podcast) which reached on million viewers with information about vaccinations. In Haiti, social media helped track a dangerous outbreak of cholera following the 2010 earthquake, which left some of the island nation's water supply contaminated.

Social media's public health applications aren't confined to medical professionals: Merchant speculates that a Web-based "buddy system" "might have allowed more at-risk people to receive medical attention and social services during the 1995 Chicago heat wave, when hundreds of people died of heat-related illness within a short period."

Nor are social media applications limited to emergencies: Merchant noted that waiting times for emergency rooms and clinics are already being publicized in some parts of the U.S. through mobile-phone applications, billboard RSS feeds, or hospital tweets.

Of course, there is also a down side to social media from the public health perspective, as the Web can just as easily be used to spread rumors and disinformation, which public health officials must commit time and resources to dispel. In light of the informal and uncontrolled nature of social media sites, the need to protect patient privacy (as well as limit doctor liability) also raises a host of ethical, legal, and professional issues that have yet to be resolved.

In April, I wrote about a presentation to the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta by Dr. Caitlin Reed of the LA County Department of Public Health, examining the role of social media in tracking an outbreak of Legionnaire's Disease which was traced back to the Playboy Mansion. Social media played a role almost from the beginning of the outbreak, with a "cluster of respiratory illness reported by attendees via social media." Social media was also central to the follow-up, allowing the LACDPH to send an online survey to all 715 conference attendees.