# 4973
With the 2010-2011 Northern Hemisphere influenza season upon us, the CDC and the HHS are providing a number of new tools this year for website owners, and those with a social media (Facebook, Myspace, Blogspot, etc.) presence to help spread the word on how to prevent or deal with the flu.
They are in hopes that with the help of thousands of netizens, they can better get the word out about the importance of seasonal flu vaccinations and good respiratory illness etiquette and hygiene.
You may notice that once again this year, I’ve placed a new FLU.GOV logo at the top of my sidebar.
You’ll find that you can embed everything from Flu shot locator applet to an H1N1 Flu Self-Evaluation program, that will ask questions and help you determine if you have the flu or not.
Each comes with a small snippet of HTML code you can insert into your site. The one below adds a small Vaccine locator applet, that allows visitors to input their zip code to get a list of vaccine clinics in their area.
From the Flu.gov website.
Social Media
Social media provides a unique opportunity to engage the public on critical public health issues such as H1N1 (Swine) flu. To encourage information sharing, collaboration, and interactivity, Flu.gov and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have developed the tools listed below.
Available widgets
A widget is an application that displays the featured content directly on personalized home pages, blogs, and other sites. After embedding the widget using the code provided, no maintenance is required. Flu.gov and CDC will update the content automatically.
There are also a wide array of buttons and badges available centering around this year’s slogan “The Flu Ends With U” which you can find (in English and en Español) at:
Flu Season Buttons and Badges Free Web Tools
Other free resources available include:
Video/ Audio Tools
This page lists all Podcasts, Videos and PSAs related to seasonal influenza.
Web Tools
Click on the web tools to add banners, buttons and badges to your website; these will link back to CDC's flu website.
You can download and send ecards to patients, family, and friends to encourage flu vaccination, in addition to viewing and responding to blogs.
The CDC uses social media themselves to spread the word on influenza – and other public health concerns – including the use of video and audio podcasts.
You can also keep up Flu.gov on TWITTER by joining more than 10,000 others that follow @FluGov.
Their latest tweet tells us that there will be a live webcast this Wednesday.
Last week the CDC released a toolkit for employers to help reduce the burden of influenza in the workplace.
Seasonal Flu Information for Businesses & Employees
The purpose of "Make It Your Business To Fight The Flu: A Toolkit for Businesses and Employers" is to provide information and recommended strategies to help businesses and employers promote the 2010 - 2011 seasonal flu vaccine.
You can also download individual components of the toolkit from this link.
And lastly, the CDC provides dozens of free posters, pamphlets, and flyers you can download and printout for your home or office, targeted to a variety of demographic groups.
Given the amount of scandalously bad information about the safety and efficacy of influenza vaccines circulating on the Internet, putting up a badge or a button on your site may help someone to make an informed decision this year.
