Research Blog : flu

Evansville's small claim to fame in the 1918 Great Pandemic & a tip for 2009 flu clinics in Evansville

SuDocQueen@evpl — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:07:00 GMT

Thanks to a very interesting question today, I discovered a surprising fact. Evansville was involved in Indiana's first official report on the Spanish influenza. According to http://1918.pandemicflu.gov/your_state/indiana.htm, in the "first official report from the state...officials reported that an epidemic had developed in Evansville beginning in the last week of September." By October, "state officials were forced to admit that 'the disease has been reported from a number of places' in the state," but Evansville carries the distinction of being the first city in Indiana to be officially stricken with the epidemic. I don't know whether you consider that good or bad, but I certainly found it surprising to learn that our city had a specific place in the history of the Great Pandemic.

I also found the website fascinating. Coming from The Office of the Public Health Service Historian, the site offers a good overview of the Pandemic in the United States -- be sure to always click on "more"; each general topic only shows the tip of information being offered. One can get a snapshot picture of average life in the US in 1918 as well as detailed information on the Pandemic's effects in each state; for example Indiana officially reported 154,600 cases while historians and epidemiologists now believe the count was closer to 350,000 cases. Along with bibliographies for books and websites, biographies on people central to the Pandemic, and examples of media resources from the time it's a very comprehensive picture of the 1918 Pandemic.

If you're more interested in the current flu situation, the site's main page also includes a link to www.pandemicflu.gov. That site helpfully pops up in a new window so you can continue browsing the historical information as well. One last discovery I have to mention, while browsing the current flu site, I discovered that the Vanderburgh County Health Department offers email notification for H1N1 Vaccination clinics! The notification comes through a catch-all category called "special events," so who knows what kind of notices a person may receive later on, but it could be worth not having to constantly check the department website or listen to the news all the time.

Up-To-Date H1N1 and Flu Information Available Now!

Bufkinite@evpl — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 21:09:00 GMT

As public concern about pandemic H1N1 and the upcoming flu season continues to grow, the medical and nursing editors from both EBSCO Publishing and the Gale Group have responded by offering the latest scientifically verified flu-related information available for free.

These free flu information resources are available in the following ways:

To access EBSCO's information, click here.
To access Gale Group's information on the science and history of H1N1, click here.
To access Gale Groups up-to-the-minute global news on H1N1, click here.

This free flu information will be continually updated, so please check both of these sites often, and feel free to share, post, and email a link to this blog post to your colleagues, family and friends.

Swine flu information

googler@evpl — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 17:21:00 GMT

Most of what you need to know about the current swine flu situation can be found on two websites. The Centers for Disease Control manages this site, which has all the latest news, information about the disease's symptoms and prevention, and links to other sources. The Department of Health and Human Services manages this site, also packed full of useful information (including historical information on flu epidemics).

Both sites have RSS feeds linked on their sites, and you can find their Twitter feeds under BirdFluGov (despite the account name, it does include swine flu information) and CDCemergency.

For the latest news stories, another Twitter feed is the San Jose Mercury News, which maintains a feed specifically for swine flu stories. (For a general news feed with plenty of flu updates, I use Breaking News.)

You may be interested in the swine flu outbreak map, a Google Maps mashup. This purports to show every known instance of swine flu around the world (of the current outbreak). The map also provides information on the current state of the ill person.

Even for those who don't live in New York, the New York State Department of Health has a very informative site on swine flu. And finally, you might want to keep an eye on the Indiana Department of Health's website.