The Center For Disease Control is currently affected by the government shutdown. While running at low capacity they aren’t able to track new infectious diseases as usual, and that includes tracking the spread of the flu.
If the government shutdown were to last through flu season, it would affect the next batch of flu shots, since the CDC provides data on which flu strains are likely to be active and needed in the vaccine.
In the short term, thankfully, there really is no difference without the CDC. States manage their own data (so watch local sources if you want to hear about flu risk near you), and there’s always Google, which can very accurately tell you where the flu is, since people search their symptoms before going to the doctor, allowing Google to create a flu trends map.
And there’s good news: while the last two years saw horrible flu seasons, this year is a return to average: only low-moderate flu rates nationwide!
Of course, don’t stop with the flu prevention! Wash your hands frequently, cough and sneeze into your elbow, run a humidifier, and support your immune system with colloidal silver!
Are you affected by the shutdown? Or just enjoying the warm fall weather and mild flu season?
