Forecasts Say This, Right Now, Is the Peak of Flu Season in Philly
Yikes, Philadelphia! You might want to consider donning a face-mask before hopping on SEPTA: The folks over at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health have developed an online flu predictor that tells you exactly when your city will be ravaged by the ever-dreaded influenza virus. And guess what, Philly? Our time is now.
The flu predictor forecasts influenza outbreaks based on data from Google Flu Trends and weekly CDC infection rates. According to its predictions, this week is the height of flu outbreak in the Philly area. The good news is, the folks over at Co.Exist say the predictions have only been correct for about 63 percent of the cities analyzed so, the forecast could be wrong.
And the other bit of good news is that if the forecast holds, incidences of the flu are slated to drop from here on out. So soon enough, you’ll be able to ride the subway flu-fear free!
To see which other cities are suffering (Misery loves company, right?), check out the online forecast model here.
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