Flu Shot
Set up a seasonal flu activity watch for me.
Season: it starts {{date 1: October 1}} each year and ends the week I confirm I've received my flu and COVID shots. Once I confirm, pause the weekly checks until the next {{date 2: October 1}} — don't keep checking in the meantime.
Weekly check: every Friday, after my state health department posts its Thursday flu update. (Example source: Minnesota Department of Health, Weekly Influenza Activity: Statistics — {{state flu report URL}}.)
Each week, record:
- Percent of lab tests positive for influenza
- Cumulative season hospitalizations (new this week = this total minus last week's total)
- Dominant strain
- School and long-term-care outbreaks
Flag it as a significant increase if ANY of these happen:
1. Lab positivity at least doubles week-over-week AND rises by at least 1 percentage point
2. Positivity reaches or exceeds 5%
3. New weekly hospitalizations jump more than 50% vs. the prior week
Weekly update: send it every week during the season, even when nothing jumped. Keep it to 2–3 sentences: the numbers, leading with anything that jumped, plus the trend (rising, flat, or falling) and a plain statement of whether it's getting close to flu-shot time.
Keep a running log of each week's numbers so trends are easy to compare.
Comments
No comments yet. Tried this prompt? Say how it went.
Log in to comment.