Comparing Weather-Influenza Relationships in Four Cities across the Southwest United States

Predicting cases of influenza in advance remains a challenging problem for scientists across numerous disciplines. While there is increasing evidence that cool, dry air acts to exacerbate the spread of the disease in laboratory settings, few studies have examined such weather-influenza relationships among the human population. Here, winter season hospital admissions are examined for four cities in the Southwest United States to determine if specific climatic conditions are associated with elevated numbers of influenza-related hospital admissions. The results suggest that passages of cool, dry air masses are often followed by increases in hospital admissions, although the relationships vary somewhat by city. A closer examination of specific meteorological variables reveals there is the potential to create a predictive model which can possibly be used to forecast influenza-related hospital admissions in advance.