Flu Near You

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YOU can help researchers track and flu virus and improve flu prevention.

Joyce speaks with Rumi Chunara of the project Flu Near You, which tracks 40,000 weekly responses from volunteers about their health, and about any flu symptoms. Their goal is to save lives from potentially deadly influenza by examining the ongoing trends in 2014, and in particular by observing the overall success rate of vaccinations. Volunteers report any flu-related symptoms weekly by filling out a very simple questionnaire that takes less than a minute to complete.

Rumi’s particular project, added this year, helps to identify just which flu bug or bacterium is causing the symptoms. Each volunteer is supplied with a kit to use in case of flu symptoms. There are three samples collected and mailed back in a simple self-mailer that you drop into the nearest mailbox. The team is hopeful that by tracking the particular strains of flu and bacteria that they will learn more about how to control the spread of these diseases.

To sign up to be a volunteer, please go to http://flunearyou.org/. Kits are being distributed this year to people in Massachusetts, but registered volunteers in other states will receive kits early next year.

Everyone is advised to consider getting a flu shot each year, especially if they are in a high-risk group (children, people over 65, or anyone with asthma, a lung disorder, or any compromise to the immune system). Your own doctor is in the best position to advise you on your particular risks. There is a utility to find where flu vaccine is available at https://vaccinefinder.org/

Flu Near You was created in partnership with the Boston Children’s Hospital’s HealthMap, an expansive globe-spanning project that tracks outbreaks of infectious diseases. Participants who register on Flu Near You are sent a weekly email that asks whether they have had a flu shot and whether they have experienced any symptoms from a provided list of ten potential answers including fever, fatigue and sore throat.

Flu Near You is a site administered by Healthmap of Boston Children’s Hospital in partnership with the American Public Health Association and the Skoll Global Threats Fund.

Flu Near You is open to anyone for browsing. Any individual living in the United States or Canada, 13 years of age or older, can register to complete brief, weekly surveys that help all of us learn more about the flu.

Benefits