Math in the News

Having the flu is no fun!

Flu season is here, and this year is a bad one. The season started early and is still going strong.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) tracks the number of flu cases nationwide. How does the CDC do it? Let’s take a look at the data the agency collects and find out.

Math in the NewsFirst, watch this video from National Geographic to learn more about the flu virus and how it spreads. http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/news/history-archaeology-news/swine-flu-overview-vin

Math in the NewsThe CDC collects data, such as number of hospital admissions and doctor visits, from the health departments of all 50 states. Click on this link to see an interactive map.http://gis.cdc.gov/GRASP/Fluview/Main.html

Math in the News

What do the red states mean? What about the green and yellow ones?Play with the interactive tool. It will show you which weeks in December and January had the most cases of flu. http://gis.cdc.gov/GRASP/Fluview/Main.html

Math in the News

This information is from New York. How many cases of influenza A did they have during the week of 12/29? What about the week of 1/12/13?

Math in the News

This graph shows the incidence of flu for the years 2002 through 2012. Which season had the most cases of flu? Which had the fewest? Where do you think this season is going to fall?