Are Pink Slips Better than Flu Shots? The Effects of Employment on Influenza Rates
نویسندگان
چکیده
The seasonal influenza virus afflicts between 5 and 20 percent of the U.S. population each year, imposing significant costs on those who fall ill, their families, employers, and the health care system. The flu is transmitted via droplet spread or close contact, and certain environments, such as schools or offices, promote transmission. In this paper we examine whether increased employment rates are associated with increased incidence of the flu. We use measures of flu prevalence from the Centers for Disease Control and Google Flu Trends. We find that an average monthly increase in the employment rate is associated with about 1.3 additional flu-related doctor visits per 1000 doctor visits for all causes. Moreover, we find that employment in industry sectors with more person-to-person contact drives the aggregate employment
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