Atlanta, Georgia company soliciting people with recent flu-like symptoms (for study) via Craigslist ad

[Emily]

I wouldn't think the flu would be circulating enough right now for the timing to be good for a flu study.

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/atl/etc/4013847714.html

Looking for Patients With Flu-Like Symptoms (Atlanta, Georgia)
We've all been there: headache, fever, cough, and that achy-tired feeling. The flu can really take a lot out of you, and it can sometimes take weeks to completely recover from.
...
"We are looking for individuals between the ages of 13 and 65 who have experienced influenza symptoms within the last 48 hours."


Posted: 2013-08-20, 11:12AM EDT

Updated: 2013-08-20, 11:31AM EDT

 

[Emily]

Re: Atlanta, Georgia company soliciting people with recent flu-like symptoms (for study) via Craigslist ad

I don't see any unusual flu activity in Georgia currently, but other members here have more expertise than I do in assessing things, so I could be wrong:

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/index.htm#OISmap

If there isn't a ready pool of flu sufferers for this study, then I was thinking maybe some kind of surveillance is being done, rather than a treatment efficacy study.

I wonder if this is part of the safety net for this kind of work being done in the area:

http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/health/2013-08-07/georgia-researchers-study-new-flu-virus

Georgia researchers study new flu virus
By Tom Corwin
Staff Writer
Wednesday, Aug 7, 2013 4:20 PM
Last updated Thursday, Aug 8, 2013 1:53 AM
Researchers in Georgia will be among scientists who will closely study an emerging strain of avian flu to assess its potential to cause a pandemic in humans.
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Associate professor S. Mark Thompkins works in his lab at the University of Georgia. He is part of a group of researchers in Georgia who will be among scientists who will closely study an emerging strain of avian flu to assess its potential to cause a pandemic in humans.

In correspondence published this week in the journals Science and Nature, the researchers announced that they will conduct what is called ?gain of function? testing to see what happens when characteristics that could make avian influenza A H7N9 more easily transmissible or more lethal are added under carefully controlled laboratory conditions...