Good flu websites for bad flu times?

October 29, 2009 6:38 AM

What online resources would you recommend – and NOT recommend – for the H1N1-worried?

I'm compiling a list of H1N1 web resources, for public consumption, especially targeted at the Toronto area. I'm especially interested in any tools that might offer hyperlocal epidemilogical information, but I'm also looking for the best general resources online.

On top of which, I'm curious - has anyone run across sites that have proven exceptionally untrustworthy, or have failed the Snopes test, that people should be warned away from?

posted by bicyclefish to Computers & Internet (11 answers total)

This is all you need:

http://www.cdc.gov/H1N1FLU/
posted by damn dirty ape at 6:47 AM on October 29, 2009 [1 favorite]

And maybe this for the Canadian: http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/alert-alerte/h1n1/index-eng.php
posted by ghharr at 7:24 AM on October 29, 2009

MedlinePlus' H1N1 page is a good source for the layperson. although of course US-centric.
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:31 AM on October 29, 2009

Effect Measure is a great public health blog that has been doing a lot of posts on H1N1. They do some debunking, as well, although it's not the main purpose of the blog.
posted by min at 7:43 AM on October 29, 2009

Good:

1) Respectful Insolence is a smart, sensible and caustically funny medical blog by a surgical oncologist that also touches on flu and vaccines.
2) Effect Measure, as mentioned previously.


Bad:

1) Dr. Jay Gordon's site is a prime example of "woo", scare-mongering and bad science.
2) Natural News. Woo to the max.
posted by maudlin at 8:46 AM on October 29, 2009

A Parent's Guide to H1N1 Influenza, medically-reviewed information from The Nemours Center for Children's Health Media. See also the section for kids that deals with swine flu.
posted by MonkeyToes at 11:05 AM on October 29, 2009

Hyperlocal you say? Outbreaks Near Me for the iPhone. Not just about h1n1, but it does all manner of cool stuff.
posted by lakeroon at 12:47 PM on October 29, 2009

Oh, another one to add to the unreliable list: the misleadingly named National Vaccine Information Center.
posted by lakeroon at 12:49 PM on October 29, 2009

Avoid anything from Jenny McCarthy or Jim Carrey. Avoid any 'homeopathic' or 'natural' remedies, since unfortunately many of them are preying on your H1N1 fears.

Aside from the aforementioned givernment sites, there's also the Mayo Clinic.
posted by drstein at 1:48 PM on October 29, 2009

I read this site daily: A/H1N1 Influenza Outbreak Timeline

It's a global overview of the pandemic, pulled from news reports, minus anything remotely tendentious. I find it to be the best, most objective way to watch this crisis unfold.
posted by yellowcandy at 11:19 AM on October 30, 2009

although your focus is Toronto, I'd still recommend the UK-centric blog maintained by the BBC medical correspondent Fergus Walsh -- Fergus on Flu
posted by davemack at 2:09 PM on October 31, 2009