You can find it here:
Google Flu Trends
I want you to spend about 30 minutes exploring the map, and then report back here what you found.
Have fun!
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Google Flu Trends - Period 6
You can find it here:
Google Flu Trends
I want you to spend about 30 minutes exploring the map, and then report back here what you found.
Have fun!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
21 comments:
•There is most known flu activity above the equator
•There is almost no known flu activity below the equator
•Above the equator most of the flu activity is in the west (North America)
•Below the equator the only known flu activity is in the east (Australia, New Zealand)
•The only places in Asia that have known flu activity are Russia and Japan
•New York has high flu activity
•All of the United states either have intense, high or moderate flu activity
•In the United States flu activity stayed low throughout July and then between August and October went all the way up to intense
•In the United States all the levels of flu activity are partly scattered; not all the intense states are in the same area although most of them are
•Only the lower half of Canada has known flu activity
•The part of Canada that does have known flu activity averages at high
•Some countries that are high are next to countries that are low (Hungary and Austria)
•Some countries have already reached a climax and are coming down while others are still going up
•My guess is that the lower half of the world has much less flu activity because it is spring there and flu season is usually the fall
•Some countries that are minimal and low in flu activity have already been at an intense or high point
Google Flu Trends
• I noticed that the country with the highest flu levels is the United States.
• Every state has some flu activity in it.
• There are 7 states with “Intense” flu levels; all of those states have a lot of cattle. I think cattle is a big reason this disease is spreading in the U.S. and all over the world
• I also noticed that most of the flu is north of the equator except for Australia and New Zealand.
• For most countries in the past, the high point of the flu season is in the late winter to early spring months.
• I also think that because the countries north of the equator are colder than the southern countries in general, the people that live up there are more likely to catch something like the flu.
• The countries in the northern hemisphere are at a different season than the countries south of the equator. That is why there is barely any trace of the flu in the south, and there is a lot of flu activity in the north.
• The flu is also big in Europe and Asia. The countries with the highest levels of flu activity are Russian and Japan. They both have “moderate” to “high” levels of the flu.
• Because Mexico is so close to the United States, Mexico also has “ moderate” levels of the flu. The part of Mexico with the highest concentration of the Flu is Baja California.
• I think this is so because Baja California is so close to New Mexico (NM) and the concentration of the flu there is so high, that it spread to Mexico.
Google Flu Trends Blog Assignment
• In the lower part of Asia there is no flu activity and there is also no flu activity in Africa or South America.
• Places like the United States and Canada have high activity of the flu.
• Parts of Europe have some activity but the activity is mostly low.
• In the United States there are some places that have intense flu activity (like Texas and some other states near it) or high flu activity (New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey etc.). But only a couple of states have moderate flu activity.
• In June and July the flu activity got pretty high for the United States but then it decreased a little.
• But in places like Texas and Oklahoma the flu is still spreading rapidly.
• I noticed that the global trends of the flu tend to be close to each other but there is some minimal activity of the flu in places like Australia and New Zealand.
• There isn’t much flu activity south of the equator.
Here are some countries I decided to take note on:
Mexico:
- Very low in flu activity.
- The more northern you go, the higher the rates are. For example, in Quintana Roo which is southern, it is minimal. In Baja California, which is northern Mexico, the activity goes all the way up to moderate.
- For every area, activity peaks in mid January.
- Rates are lowest in summer months.
Japan:
- Is mostly moderate.
- In the past years, rates have peaked usually from January to March.
- The closer winter gets, the more flu activity increases.
Unites States:
- Southern states have the most intense rates
- Hawii has very low activity, while Alaska has very high activity.
- This year so far, flu levels have soared, starting in September, and are already at intense levels.
- Generally, I have noticed that the bigger the state (such as texas), the higher the activity is. This is not true for all states, though.
Poland:
- Has only one section which is low.
- Seems to be following trends of previous years.
- Has had multiple peaks some years
France:
- Is mostly low, though there are different sections.
- Most of those sections which have moderate activity (excluding Poitou-Charentes) are connected. This might mean that the virus is spreading throughout various connected populations.
- Like the United States this year, flu rates have gone up starting in september. The rates are still far lower, though.
- March-August are typically minimal.
Australia:
- Western Australia and South Astralia are both low, and Queensland, New South Australia and Vicotria are minimal.
- This year, rates are lower so far than they have been.
- In Australia, our winter months are hot for them, and our summer months are cold for them. This means that in December and January it is hot, and in July and August it is cold. Because of this, the peak in flu activity is normally in June-September.
1. The most flu activity is in the United States.
2. It looks like about half has little or no flu activity at all.
3. Australia is the only minimal flu amount area.
4. Africa and South America are all white.
5. Mexico where the H1N1 virus supposedly started has only Low flu activity.
6. There are no “Intense” flu areas.
7. South Asia, Africa, and South America are all on a line so it is kind of like a flu free belt.
8. There is no flu in the middle of the earth or closest to the equator.
9. Only using their search terms for the data, not necessarily true data.
10. Google flu is an estimate, they compare their data to the United states data and the CDC
11. Many of the graphs show more flu pandemics earlier and more frequent than in years past.
Canada
• Low to High activity
• Almost split in ½ the bottom has the flu and the top does not
• Almost at the same cases of the flu as at the height of the past years
• Looks like the most cases are closest to the U.S.
France
• Almost all of France has little or moderate cases of the flu
• At about the same place as in the past few years case wise with the time of year
• Two parts in the center have no flu activity
• Surrounded by two other countries that also have little or moderate flu activity
Mexico
• At almost the same place as the last few years on the charts
• About ½ has no flu activity
• Low to moderate activity in some places
• No flu near the South American boarder
Spain
• Either they do not have a sufficient amount of data for the country as a whole or the whole country has low activity
• Above the normal flu activity from the last few years
• Even little islands have activity
• Surrounded by countries with active H1N1 cases
Norway
• Had a giant surge of cases in mid August when the normal tipping point of the chart is between December and February.
• Norway is cradling Sweden and they have also seen the flu
• The map is not broken up into sections, it just shows Norway as a whole
• Moderate cases of the Flu
United States
• Hit a high point in the end of September and the beginning of October
• The only country so far that I’ve seen with intense
• The intense states are in clusters Texas, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma…
• The whole country has Low (Hawaii) to intense.
• Most of the known flu activity is above the equator.
• There is no (or little) flu activity in South America.
• Most of the flu activity occurred around the colder months like September and October.
• The flu activity in the warmer weather was much lower than the colder weather.
• In the United States, all of the States have at least al little bit of flu activity.
• The higher flu activity in the United States occurs in the West.
• There is very little flu activity in Australia.
• The flu activity in Canada is all (or mostly) on the bottom half.
I THINK THAT THE COLDER THE WEATHER IS IN THAT AREA THE MORE FLU ACTIVITY THERE IS OPPOSED TO WHERE IT IS WARMER THERE IS LESS FLU ACTIVITY, BECAUSE THE HEAT KILLS OFF THE GERMS/DISEAS.
• I noticed that the United States is the place with the highest flu level.
• Basically every state has flu activity in it.
• There are 7 states with “Intense” flu levels; all of those states have a lot of cattle. I think cattle is a big reason the flu is spreading in the U.S. and all around the world
•Most of the flu is North of the equator except for Australia and New Zealand.
• For most of the countries in the past, the flu was high in the late winter to early spring months.
• I think that because the countries north of the equator are colder than the southern countries in general, because of that the people in the north are more likely to get the flu
• The countries in the northern hemisphere are at a different season than the countries south of the equator. That is why there is barely any trace of the flu in the south.
Japan: - Is mostly moderate.
Unites States: - High flu activity level
Poland: - Has only one section which is low.
France: - Is mostly low, but there also is different sections.
Australia: - Western Australia and South Astralia are both low, and Queensland, New South Australia and Vicotria are minimal.
Google Flu Trends
· There is much higher flu activity in the northern hemisphere, compared to the southern hemisphere.
· The flu trends are higher in the western hemisphere, than the eastern hemisphere.
· (US): In 2009, the summer’s flu rates have skyrocketed, compared to past years.
· (US): In October 2009, flu rates are as intense as previous winter rates.
· (US): The lowest state level is “moderate”.
· (New Zealand): Country’s most intense flu rates are in June-September.
· (Australia): Has least intense flu trends.
· (Japan): In past years, there have been very, very, very minimal flu trends, June-September.
· (Sweden): In August and September 2009, flu trends went straight up, and then came all the way back down.
· (France): This country has very minimal flu activity.
· (Mexico): Flu trends are pretty much the same year-round, except for increases in the winter.
· (Canada): Have had very intense flu trends in December through March, in past years.
· (Poland): Besides January and February, flu trends are very low.
· (Belgium): Besides January and February, flu trends are very low.
US: Crazy. The Mainland United States and Alaska has a High to Intense level. However, Hawaii is isolated from the US, and their level of Flu is bordering between moderate and low. The United States appears to be the worst in terms of Flu judging by the data.
Canada: They are doing better then we are, on the lower end of High.
Mexico: You'd think they are the Flu Capital, but that isn't the case! They are in the middle level of Low! Baja California is the only area of Mexico where the Flu level is Bordering between High and Moderate.
Germany: They are doing great, especially in Saxony-Anhalt and North-Rhine Westphalia, where the Flu level is bordering Low and Minimal. Bavaria is the only state with a Moderate Level
Australia: Isolated and nearly flu-free, Australia is bordering between Low and Minimal.
Japan: Isolated? Yes. Flu-free? No. The flu level in Japan is bordering between high and moderate.
America: very high level of flu. both bordering countrys have swine flu activity. Every state has some swine flu activity.
-most of the countrys effected by the swine flu were countries in the northern hemishphere. A lot of the countries are in europe where all the countries are close together.
Australia: australia was not hit hard because it is completely isolated from other countrys.
- A lot of countries with high population densitys were hit hard because it can catch easier.
Japan: isolated, but still hit hard by the swine flu. most likely because of population density.
- It seems to me that the colder the weather is, the more likely swine flu outbreaks are.
Scandanavia (Norway, Sweden, Finland): Moderate amount okf swine flu activity through sweden, and Norway.No swine flu activity in Finland.
- Main outbreak of swine flu was in summer. It is usually in december, January, and Febuary.
Some information I found on Google Flu Map:
The United States has the most flu activity, including Alaska. Towards central and north and south of the United States, the flu activity is pretty intense. In the west it is pretty high and intense too, but towards the northeast the flu activity seems to be modern and low. Alaska has high flu activity, while Hawaii has more minimal.
Switzerland, Australia and Poland have the most minimal amount of flu activity compared to everywhere else.
Hungary and Canada seemed to have pretty high flu activity. In different places in Canada, the flu activity was higher than it was in the rest of the places. In east and west of Canada there was higher flu activity than central. This is the opposite of the flu activity in the United States.
I found out that Spain, France, Germany, Netherlands, Austria, and Australia had pretty low flu activity.
Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, and Belgium had moderate flu activity in their area.
Mexico had a low flu activity in general, but when I looked in within it, I found out that a place in it, Baja California, had pretty high flu activity. Everywhere else, it was either low or minimal.
What I found strange was that Japan as a whole country, had high flu activity.
Other information:
The graphs showed the historical query-based flu estimates for different countries compared to the official influenza surveillance data
It also included how it’s a good development because researching early detection of a certain disease, the outbreak can reduce the number of people affected because it is giving everyone the information before it happens
In the website in also includes information about regular flu like how it is in non-tropical countries, and how it usually starts in late fall. It said how in the northern hemisphere the flu season usually takes place during November all the way to March. In the southern hemisphere it said how the flu season usually spans from May to September.
When I clicked on “learn more” it said information how people search for flu related topics online, and they noticed how a pattern has emerged.
They can estimate how much flu activity is in one country.
When I looked at their maps for historical estimates, it shows how the Google flu trends estimate wasn’t that far off from the actual results.
Based on the information that I found, I realized that it depends where you are on the map, which detects how much flu activity is in your country. I noticed a pattern, that it was usually the cold places on the map had higher flu activity than tropical places.
1. The United States and Canada immediately stick out because of the flu levels.
2. There are several states that have intense levels and almost all the states have high levels and a few have moderate.
3. I can’t really tell what the temperature does for the flu but it seems as though cold weather is optimal but this can be misleading because Arizona has an intense flu level.
4. What’s surprising to me is that New Mexico and Arizona which are warmer states. In the past the flu has stayed near minimal and low but now they are the two highest.
5. It seems that normally the states with high population have higher flu levels this is probably because the flu can spread easier.
6. The scariest part about these maps is that looking at past years we aren’t even in the heavy part of flu season.
7. Mexico has moderate flu levels but only in the places close to the U.S border and the most concentrated area Baja California is most concentrated because it’s near New Mexico.
8. Something else that I saw just as I was searching around was that Switzerlands flu levels in the winter of last year were intense.
9. Another surprising thing is that Japan is an island and its isolated and its flu levels are still high.
10. The flu seems to be much more present in the northern hemisphere I think this is because the seasons there are opposite the northern so it isn’t even close to flu season there.
11. The reason I think that it isn’t because its warmer there is because first of all it isn’t warmer in southern parts of South America and also Arizona and New Mexico are extremely hot and the flu is very present there.
1. Compared to the color scheme/key, the US is the only country with "intense" flu activity.
2. Oregon and Idaho are the only states where if you click on the state, the bar is at the very top of the scale.
3. In the past years, the climaxes of the flu activity in the US, is in February. Now, it's the highest it’s ever been and it's only October.
4. In Hawaii, their intense period was in July, but now it's low on the scale.
5. In Montana, the activity went from minimal to high in the month of September.
6. The only state in Mexico that is moderate/high on the scale, is the northern part of Baja California, which is sharing borders with California which is also high on the scale.
7. I was surprised that Hungary is high on the scale, but is surrounded by low scaled countries, so I thought that there was a lack of medicine, or something that is keeping it going around .
8. Much like Hawaii, Australia already had the climax of the flu, and is now , also like Hawaii, minimal on the scale.
9. In Europe, almost all of the countries had a big problem with the flu in early summer, now the flu is moving to be a big problem in the western hemisphere.
8 states in the U.S. are intense.
32 states are high and the rest are moderate
All of America have some level of flu with in it unlike some countries were it is scattered across it.
Hungry, Japan, America, and Canada have the highest rates.
Below the equator the only effected parts are Australia and New Zealand.
It is worst on the North American side
In some countries like Africa and china have no flu.
Some of the intense flu states are clumped up next to each other.
I think that south of the equator is better off because of there flipped seasons we have winter while they have summer and that’s why they have no active places with the flu.
I think though that they people are which moving down to South America while bring the flu with them as they travel to a warmer climate.
I think the flu is traveling more by near by states or countries then going from place to place in a long distance.
I noticed that most countries that have the flu have some cold season and the ones that don’t are connected to countries that do.
I think that the flu spreads quicker in colder countries.
US: The whole country is high with the flu trends
• The west side is more intense then the east
• Hawaii has the least flu trends in the U.S.
• Idaho, Oregon, Arizona, new Mexico, Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana all have intense flu trends
• The MOST intense flu trends in the U.S. are Idaho and Oregon
Mexico: Mexico has very low flu trends
• The north is more intense then the south
• Quintana Roo has the least flu trends
• Baja California has the most flu trends and it is at moderate
Japan: Japan has a high flu trend but it is the lowest of the high
• A couple years ago, the high point was in February of 2005
• All of the high points in all of the years so far was in the winter
• All of the low points that were shown were in the spring
• Poland: Poland has a low flu trend and it is almost minimal
• The highest point on the graph was in February of 2005
• The lowest point was in September of 2004
• All of the high points for all of the years were in the winter
France: France has a low flu trend and is closer to moderate then to minimal
• The lowest places in France is Midi-Pyrenees and Aquitaine
• The highest place in France is Franche-Comte
• The highest on the whole chart was in 2009 and it was in early February
• The highest point on this year so far has been in September
Australia: Australia has a low flu trend and it is very close to minimal
• The west is higher than the east
• The lowest part if Australia is Victoria
• The highest part of Australia is western Australia
Google flu trends map reflection/observations
1. the countries with a large population such as america ad a big flu trend.
2. While mexico is very much associated with the flu, particularly swine, there is only a moderate trend there.
3. another thing that surprised me about mexico was that there were strange little sections of flu just at what seemed to be random placing in the middle of the country.
4. If there were so many fu victims in texas, how come there are so little in mexico, where much of the texas population in made from their immigrants?
5. While many people think these are facts, this is only the data collected from search terms that google thought were good indicators of flu activity. Therefore, it is possible that because americans have so many computers that they frequently use, they are higher up on the list.
6. Perhaps mexico don't have as many computers per person and they have more swine flu cases than america.
7. I find it interesting that alaska in high in flu trends, because it's bordered by canada which has lower trends.
When I first noticed that the US had the most amount of flu, I was really confused. Russia has more people, so it wasn't that we had more people. Places like Canada, and Sweden were much colder than us, and Australia was hotter. So WHY would the US be the most common?! The most logical idea I could think of was the swine flu. Two reasons, 1) In recent years, the flu rate has been much milder on average than it is on the current map, and 2) Mexico isn't really the top carrier any longer, it's probably now America. Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona, and New Mexico are all "Intense", as they are closest to Mexico. Alaska, of course, is freezing cold, and thus has a high rate of flu. Oregon, Indiana, Kentucky, Idaho, Ohio, Illinois, were all high as well, though I couldn't really think why. Maybe the flu virus simply enjoys that type of climate, or geography.
Another thing I noticed is how often they update this map. Google is known for being top-of-the-line, quick and easy to use, and very informative, but I think it's amazing that they could find this information so quickly. I do think they should try to find more information on other countries though. It only covers a handful of them- and none at all in South America or Africa!
∑ America’s general flu rate is high
∑ The states range from moderate to intense
∑ Larger states usually have higher flu rates
∑ New York’s flu rate is high
∑ Alaska’s flu rate is high, while Hawaii is moderate
∑ America’s flu rate started to raise in august, and still is
∑ Canada’s general flu rate is high
∑ The provinces range from none to high
∑ Canada’s flu rate started increasing in august and still is
∑ 5 provinces are moderate, and 3 are high
∑ Australia’s flu rate is low
∑ It is one of the only 2 countries with flu rates on the map
∑ The different parts range from none to low
∑ Australia’s flu rate started to increase in may, and then started to decrease in July
** Most of the flu rates are above the equator, which probably means that the influenza virus is more affective in cold weather**
-North america has a larger amount of flu activity than any other place
-In the middle of the united states, its more intense than anywhere else
-They only show you the southern flu activity in canada, and it is high.
-from united states to mexico, it just changes from high or moderate to low activity
-The flu is more common either when the summer is starting, or when the fall is starting
-all of japan, and all of russia have the same activity level throughout the whole country
-most of the activity records you can see are above the equator
-switzerland, australia, and poland have the most minimal activity than anywhere else
-when you look at the whol world flu trend picture, you see that north america is so red compared to everywhere else
-the only intense flu areas are in united states
Apparently, some of the most developed countries in the world have the highest flu activity, examples include Canada, Japan and the US.
Countries with lower average incomes such as Mexico have lower flu activity. I think that this is caused by lower amounts of reports of flu. A person in the US who has listened to the many news stories will more likely be worried and report symptoms than somebody in Mexico who doesn't have the knowledge to identify flu because of the lack of a TV or Radio.
Around the time of the Swine Flu outbreak in Mexico, reports of Flu in the US jumped up, this was before it spread to the US. Most likely many of the flu reports coming from the US are false.
Most of Europe is reporting moderate to low flu activity, while Hungary is reporting high levels of flu.
Australia and New Zealand report Minimal and Low amounts of flu activity respectfully.
The place that I choose to look at was Japan. I chose Japan because I found it interesting how in February of 2003-2004 the flu rate was very high. At first it was very low, but then it increased to very high amounts and I was wondering why possibly this could be? Looking at the chart it seems like in Japan they don’t usually have a very high flu rate they are just high, but a very low high just a little bit above moderate. Normally the flu rate starts going up in mid December, but this year it’s starting in this month (October). It also seems like it’s increasing pretty high for this early in the year compared to other years. Then again in 2008-2009 and 2004-2005 the flu started to increase in October too so it seems like there is a may be a pattern here. It does seem though that instead like most of the other years 2008-2009 is more of a “bumpy” journey for the flu rate because it went up like it usually does in the past years during mostly the winter time, but in 2008-2009 it was different. It went up and then towards the end of the year it went up and down a little, and I was wondering why. How come sometimes the flu right is higher than others in places? I understand in winter it may be high, but how come it’s sometimes higher in the spring or summer? I was also was wondering how come there is more activity of the flu in the northern part of the earth rather than the southern (except for Australia). Does the weather affect this?
Post a Comment