[Web4lib] Flu Wiki, who needs it?

[Patricia F Anderson]

Hi, David,

I'm not seeing anything on FluWiki that denigrates the CDC at all. Indeed, 
there are 110 pages in FluWiki that link to or mention CDC activities and 
resources. They seem to link to all the resources you mentioned on pages 
like: 
<http://www.fluwikie.com/index.php?n=Geographic.ServiceUnitedStatesofAmerica>

They have a statement that seems (to me) to explain and justify the 
perceived conflict.

"No one, in any health department or government agency, knows all the 
things needed to cope with an influenza pandemic. But it is likely someone 
knows something about some aspect of each of them and if we can pool and 
share our knowledge we can advance preparation for and the ability to cope 
with events. This is not meant to be a substitute for planning, 
preparation and implementation by civil authorities, but a parallel effort 
that complements, supports and extends those efforts." 
<http://www.fluwikie.com/>

I do see the DemFromCT response on you blog page, but the person speaking 
is not identified. Who knows? The actual FluWiki organizers might be 
horrified at  what s/he says. We have no way of knowing if the respondent 
is affiliated in the way they imply.

Regarding your blogged comment, "While the site's purpose is more as an 
information service for preparedness, an open wiki from a non-health or 
science agency is the very last kind of Web site anyone should use as a 
expert source for health or scientific information," I disagree.

By allowing open public commentary from interested parties, wikis have the 
potential to create a more dynamic and immediate dialog on any given 
topic. Sure, someone might say something that isn't accurate, and then 
other people will jump on it and say WHY it isn't accurate, the dialog 
gets going, and people who are not expert are more likely to understand 
the big picture of the concern. I don't see a problem with someone posting 
inaccurate information, UNLESS those who know better just sit there and 
don't say anything. I think the public stands to learn more and understand 
better and be *less* susceptible to quackery if it is freely discussed in 
an open forum.

I am very happy to see some health wikis on important topics. One of the 
key struggles in providing medical information to the public has been 
defining authority and trust. The professional medical community rightly 
wants to limit information to what they are sure is accurate.  Sometimes 
this contributes to delays in releasing information on innovative 
treatments or areas of inquiry. Some health care consumers see this as 
biased censorship, and respond by not trusting the primary experts. Public 
wikis offer a way to provide point and counterpoint discussions, and 
hopefully engender a more trusted health information environment.

I'm not personally expert enough to say whether the FluWiki itself has 
sound content. I will however go on record as being thrilled at the effort 
and the potential it represents for shared dialog about a major health 
concern.

Patricia Anderson, pfa at umich.edu
<http://www.mlaguidetohealth.org/>

On Sat, 1 Oct 2005, D.H. Mattison wrote:

> I blogged the Flu Wiki and criticized it. One of the developers 
> responded. I knew the first sentence couldn't be true: "... if there 
> were such a site run by, let’s say, CDC, we wouldn’t need a Flu 
> Wiki. it is precisely because CDC does not that we do." A Google for 
> "pandemic site:gov" revealed the CDC's very thorough and authoritative 
> site on influenza/pandemic preparedness, including a special page on the 
> bird flu. Many state- and municipal/regional-level governments also have 
> public health agencies that provide current information on influenza 
> prevention and outbreaks. Here're two examples from Massachusetts 
> (http://www.mass.gov/dph/cdc/epii/flu/pandemic.htm) and King County, 
> Washington 
> (http://www.metrokc.gov/prepare/preparerespond/hazardsdisasters/flu.aspx), 
> from the first page of Google hits. If you Google "influenza pandemic" 
> or "flu pandemic" you'll also get the World Health Organization site on 
> pandemic preparedness 
> (http://www.who.int/csr/disease/influenza/pandemic/en/) on the first 
> page.
>
> You can read my blog entry and comments at http://www.davidmattison.ca/wordpress/?p=1409
>
> David Mattison
> Victoria, BC, Canada
> dmattison at shaw.ca
> Tiki Wiki Hut: http://www.davidmattison.ca/tiki
> Ten Thousand Year Blog: http://www.davidmattison.ca/wordpress
>
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