FluTracking during the COVID-19 pandemic: lessons learnt for future participatory surveillance

FluTracking Australia is one of the largest online participatory surveillance systems worldwide. Here, we share our learnings from the experience of leading FluTracking during the COVID-19 pandemic. We theorise that awareness and utilisation of our learnings will lead to participatory surveillance having a greater influence upon future health policy, practice, and research. The FluTracking team came together in a series of meetings held between January 2024–December 2024 to discuss lessons learnt during the first four years of the COVID-19 pandemic. Key messages within each lesson were consolidated and, where appropriate, quantitative and qualitative analysis of FluTracking data were undertaken to support these messages. Lesson 1 – Participatory surveillance can be adapted quickly to meet shifting needs and inform emerging public health concerns; Lesson 2 – Participatory surveillance provides an avenue for the community to engage with and influence public health issues; Lesson 3 – Participatory surveillance data provides insights for decision makers that may not be available elsewhere; Lesson 4 – Participatory surveillance provides a framework for enhanced surveillance systems capable of detecting and characterising emerging disease threats; and Lesson 5 – The limitations of participatory surveillance could be better understood and managed by utilising data linkage.