Data for Respiratory Threat Season

Why the effort matters

Visualizing and sharing insights to protect health and improve lives is a primary public health data goal.

A milestone in the 2023 Public Health Data Strategy was to develop a centralized data dissemination platform in partnership with CDC's Office of Readiness and Response. The goal was to provide partners and the public with timely and actionable data.

CDC launched the Respiratory Illness Data Channel was launched in September 2023. It provided the public health information Americans needed during the 2023-2024 fall and winter respiratory threat season and is updated weekly.

CDC combined data from a wide variety of sources to provide insight on respiratory threats across the country. The data include hospital capacity from the National Healthcare Safety Network and emergency department visits from the National Syndromic Surveillance Program.

The development of data channels like this one demonstrates major progress in providing tools for public health partners and the public. Now it is easier to understand public health threats and make decisions to protect the health of individuals, families and communities.

Key outcomes

Nine different data sources across 20 subject areas of CDC were integrated in the Data Channel. There have been over four million visitors since the Data Channel was launched in September 2023. In March 2024, the channel saw more than one million page visits.

What users are saying

“Provided good information making me aware of the situation in the zone I live [in]. Since I am older, and a diagnosed type 2 diabetic, such information is great for me.“
– Data Channel user

“I like the graph format. [Easily seeing] the escalation in cases has led to an increase in my encouragement for patients to get vaccinated, particularly before the holiday season.”
– Data Channel user