11/13/08  Health Dept Says No Flu in Ark, Despite Google Trend


A page on a Google-operated Web site appears to forecast influenza outbreaks by tracking the volume of people who use the search engine to send queries about flu symptoms.

If the Google data is correct, then Arkansas is experiencing a moderate outbreak of the flu. But doctors at the Arkansas Health Department said Wednesday that Google can't be correct because there has not been one confirmed case of the flu in Arkansas this season.

Doctors with the Health Department say the high number of recent Google searches about the flu are probably related to the agency's mass vaccination effort.

The Health Department administered more than 108,000 flu vaccines over the past week. The shots were available at least one site in each county. The Dallas County Health Unit held their clinic at the Fordyce Civic Center last Thursday.