Anybody want to guess?

[petmoosie]

Why are the numbers of H1N1 cases so high in Illinois (466) and Wisconsin (357)?

Weather stayed cool/cold longer?

More time spent indoors/ in groups?

More testing?

Comments

[wendyzski.livejournal.com]

The Chicago outbreak was fairly early in the process, and at the time the recommendations were to test everyone who showed symptoms. The switch to "if your symptoms are mild/moderate stay home" happened the night before I got sick, after some schools had been closed for 2 days already.

However, I think another possibility might be the affected population lacking access to regular medical care and instead using the ER as the primary source. Hospital protocols for testing are different than if you just call your primary care physician like I did.