Yahoo! Search Trends: Cold/Flu Season

 Flu Searches Trending Online: Swine Flu, Bird Flu, Homemade Cold Remedies

Can you hear it? The coughing and sneezing that comes with the turn of the weather? Fall is almost here and cold/flu season is just around the corner. Each year on Yahoo!, searches for cold and flu related terms start rising at the end of September and taper off in May. From “where to get flu shots” and the safety of flu shots to searches for the “super bug,” each year there is a flurry of activity around this topic. Below are some of the Yahoo! Search trends around this Flu and Cold Season:

Typical cold related trends on Yahoo!:

  • Searches that are spiking “off the charts” on Yahoo! in the past 30 days include: flu shot clinics, flu vaccine, bird flu pandemic, bird flu news, swine flu symptoms (still!) Note: Off the charts refers to searches that received little to no searches the week/month before and are now gaining interest.
  • According to Yahoo!, 56% of searches for “flu shot” are by seniors 55. Other searches include “side effects for flu shots.”
  • The top states searching for “flu symptoms” and flu shot” (past year): California, Texas, Illinois, New York, Florida
  • The top states already searching “flu symptoms” in September: 1. Florida 2. Texas 3. Virginia 4. California

Self-diagnosis and good old fashioned home remedies.

Whether scared of the doctor or trying to save money, more and more people are turning online to search for symptoms and home remedies before they make an appointment. The majority of searches on Yahoo! for “flu symptoms” are made by women (72%), but surprisingly, over the last month, 28% were made by kids under 13. Top symptoms searched on Yahoo! Include: “common cold symptoms,” “cold vs. flu symptoms,” and “stomach flu symptoms.”

Natural cold and flu remedy searches on Yahoo! follow the curve of flu season, and are on the rise. So far in 2011, they are higher than the previous two years combined.

Top remedy searches on Yahoo!:

  1. Home remedies
  2. Sore throat remedies
  3. Herbal remedies
  4. Natural remedies
  5. Cold remedies
  6. Homeopathic remedies
  7. Flu remedy
  8. Home cold remedies
  9. Cough remedies
  10. Folk remedies for colds

Other Top Searched Questions on Yahoo! for cold/flu season:

  • How to fight the common cold?
  • How to prevent colds and flu?
  • Infant cold treatment?
  • Best cold medicine?

What is Yahoo! Search Data?

People power: We sift through billions of Yahoo! searches to uncover trends, burning questions, popular personalities and hot ideas. Yahoo! has been extremely successful in sifting through searches for trend-spotting, historical insight, forecasting projections, and big-picture analysis.
Follow Yahoo! Search on Twitter: @YahooSearch and @YahooSearchData

 


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9 Comments

Comment by backlink
2011-09-22 03:30:01

nice :))

 
2011-09-25 23:40:30

ı love you yahooo

 
Comment by Liquidators
2011-10-03 06:30:51

Wow, some interesting figures there. No surprise that 56% of searches for “flu shot” are by seniors 55 but can’t believe some of the regions and states turning up in searches for “flu symptoms” and flu shots” and that 28% of searches last month for “flu symptoms” were kids under 13. Thanks for the article, interesting read.

 
2011-10-06 02:55:09

You would think people would know these things.Surprising to see how many searches there are for subjects which I thought were just common sense !!

 
Comment by linda
2011-10-09 21:45:58

cool, i love you yahoo

 
Comment by ajdin
2011-11-01 02:46:25

cool….

 
Comment by Benson
2011-11-23 21:55:54

thanks yahoo. ^^

 
2011-11-27 20:23:22

i cannot bear this

 
2011-12-19 09:36:01

Home remedies on yahoo! are my favorite, there is nothing like a quick easy tip on how to cure a cold. thanks yahoo! you rock!

 

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