What Users Can Do

This visualization was mainly made for medical officials and the general public so that the medical officials could gain more knowledge with flu cases and for the general public to gain information about the flu itself. However, anybody can access this visualization.

The questions the users may ask are endless, but they may ask:

• What is the most common type of flu variation in recent years?

• Has the number of flu cases increased over the years?

• Based on the information about COVID-19, is there a correlation with the hospital visits for the flu for the 2020-2021 season?

Or maybe something more specific like:

• How many H1N1 cases were reported in Illinois in the 2011-2012 season?

• How about the Midwest? 2018-2019?

These questions are answered below:

• Most common type of flu variation: We can see that for the 2018 and 2019 seasons, the most common type of flu variation is the H1N1 virus. For the 2020 season, there was no subtyping performed (however, the season is not over yet).

• Increase in flu cases: Comparing the 2014-2015 and 2018-2019 seasons, we can see a significant decrease based on the numbers shown in the legend.

• Correlation with COVID-19: There is not really a correlation between the two, because in the winter months more people are prone to catch a flu. However, as the cases of COVID-19 rose in March, the flu visits decreased. (Weeks 15-19 correspond to March)

• H1N1 cases: Based on the pie chart, there were 46 H1N1 cases reported in the 2011-2012 season.

• Midwest and 2018-2019 season: For the Midwest or East North central region as described in the census report, there were 2348 cases reported of H1N1.