Contact: Rachel Pugh
rachel.pugh@childrens.harvard.edu
617-355-6420
Children's Hospital Boston

9/11, Airline Volume and Influenza

Caption: Before and after the 9/11 attacks, influenza mortality tended to peak on or around February 17 (blue line). But in the flu season after the attacks, the peak was delayed until March 2, 2002. International airline volume for September (red line) was almost a mirror image, falling to its lowest point just after the 9/11 attacks. There was also a residual effect on air travel in 2002, leading to a later flu peak in 2003 as well (February 29).

Credit: Courtesy John Brownstein, PhD, Children's Hospital Informatics Program

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Related news release: A public health lesson from 9/11: To curb the flu, limit flights