Want to see how bad the flu is in your neighborhood? Health website WebMD has created a tracker that relies on crowd sourcing to estimate levels of illness by zip code. According to the site’s users, flu and cold symptoms on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, for example, are moderate to severe. Symptoms throughout Astoria, Queens, are merely moderate.
Given that WebMD’s data is based on user reports, results are likely skewed (the UWS simply might have more hypochondriacs or more people willing to log on and detail their symptoms). We reached out to WebMD to ask about the crowd-sourced results, but it has not responded to requests for comment.
No matter its accuracy, the flu-tracking tool could potentially help increase local awareness of influenza pandemics, says Michael Jhung, a medical officer in the influenza division of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): “If people see what’s happening in their specific geographic location, they may be more motivated to get vaccinated,” he says. “For the past few years, 40 to 45 percent [of Americans have gotten vaccinated] … Our goal is 70 percent, and we’re not there yet.”
Flu season starts in October or November and can last until May. Increased activity typically begins in December, and one or two viruses generally predominate, though that likely won’t be known until the end of the season. Still, according to the CDC, this year could mark the return of H1N1, a strain that first reared its head in 2009. And younger people might be more prone to catching it than seniors: “Older people were alive when a very similar virus was circulating decades ago,” says Jhung. “They still have some residual protection.” The symptoms associated with H1N1 are similar to those of any other flu: Fever, sore throat, nausea, and so on.
The CDC doesn’t track cold and flu symptoms on a local level, but it does provide some national and regional data on its own site, based on reports from health care providers.
