Cold and flu season is well under way. It’s the time of year when we emphasize a little extra elbow grease during hand washing, muffling of the coughs and sneezes, and flu shots.

Peak flu season is around January and February. If you haven’t already gotten your flu shot, it’s not too late! Getting the flu shot now can still offer you some protection for this flu season.

I was reading Socialnomics, by Eric Qualman, in preparation to write a paper for a class I’m taking. The author mentions flu trends and how the philanthropical arm of Google, www.google.org, tracks flu trends across the globe. Because of the nature of the way Google gets its data, it is about two weeks ahead of the Centers for Disease Control in determining trends of where the flu is spreading.

Check it out! You can see the current map at www.google.org/flutrends.