Valley doctor develops mapping system to track flu
Oct 5, 2015, 6:00 AM | Updated: 5:03 pm
(AP Photo)
PHOENIX — A new mapping system to track the flu is being developed in the Valley.
“Essentially what we’re doing is creating a weather map of flu patients,” said Dr. Vijay Kanaan with Maricopa Integrated Health Systems.
“We’re trying to find out where the flu is most likely to occur and we think that it’s probably going to be a combination of where the virus happens to be that year,” he said. “As well as a variety of socio-economic and living conditions that make people in those areas more susceptible.”
The goal is to get more people vaccinated, he said.
“You may prevent yourself from getting the flu, but you’re more importantly going to prevent older, and younger people and sick people from getting the flu,” he said. “And those are the people that can actually die from the disease.”