Flu tackles Super Bowl fans
If you're a fan of the Panthers or Broncos, be sure to wash your hands on Super Bowl Sunday before you give a friend a celebratory fist bump. A Cornell University economist and his colleagues have found the geographical areas that have an NFL team advance to the Super Bowl had an 18 percent spike in flu-related deaths among people above the age of 65.
"The mechanism that's driving this is the increased socialization that happens as a result of the team being successful," says Nicholas Sanders, assistant professor of economics in the Department of Policy Analysis and Management at Cornell University.
"You have friends over for a Super Bowl party. You all go out to a bar to watch the game. A bunch of people are cramped in a small space, and they're all touching the same napkins and grabbing the same chips. If your team wins, you're all out in the street celebrating. It's that kind of disease transmission that we think might be a driving factor," he said.
The results were most pronounced in years when the dominant influenza strain is more virulent, or when the Super Bowl occurs closer to the peak of influenza season, he added.
The Super Bowl offered a perfect natural experiment to test the researchers' central question: how does a change in people's daily interactions - such as increased travel and social gatherings - affect the way a disease spreads?
The researchers analyzed county-level data from 1974 to 2009, comparing the rates of influenza-related death in areas that had an NFL team in the Super Bowl to the rates in places that also had football teams but did not reach the big game that year. The researchers focused on mortality for those over the age of 65, historically the most vulnerable population.
Although older adults may not change their habits much if their local team makes it to the Super Bowl, their chances of coming into contact with someone who has the flu increase as the infection rate climbs in the overall population, Sanders said.
"It needn't be a direct leap, where an older person is at a bar watching the team. It could be that individual's relative is at a bar and then he visits his parents. Or a worker at a retirement home goes out to get a drink and celebrate her team's win, and then returns to work the next day. Those are all possible disease transmissions," Sanders said.
But the researchers found no change in influenza mortality in cities that hosted the Super Bowl. That could be for several reasons, Sanders said, including because the influx of travelers may prompt locals to avoid going out on the town. Another factor could be the host city's location; the Super Bowl is frequently held in southern cities, where flu transmission rates are generally lower.
Sanders and his colleagues point out that flu prevention techniques apply whether it's Super Bowl Sunday or not: wash your hands, don't share food or drinks. If you are sick, avoid social gatherings.
"Simply being aware of the situation can make people take common-sense precautions, and say, 'Well, I'm not going to shove my hand in that bowl of nuts over there.' I think that's just good advice in general," Sanders said.
The study, "Success Is Something to Sneeze At: Influenza Mortality in Cities that Participate in the Super Bowl," appears in the winter 2016 issue of American Journal of Health Economics. Sanders' co-authors are Charles Stoecker and Alan Barreca, both economists at Tulane University.
Source: Cornell University
Articles on the same topic
- Super Bowl celebrations spread flu according to Tulane researchersMon, 1 Feb 2016, 22:19:32 UTC
Other sources
- CBS officiating expert Mike Carey goes silent in Super Bowl 50from UPIMon, 8 Feb 2016, 20:06:39 UTC
- Super Bowl 50 gets second-highest overnight ratingfrom UPIMon, 8 Feb 2016, 20:05:22 UTC
- Astronaut shares photo of Super Bowl from 249 miles upfrom UPIMon, 8 Feb 2016, 19:33:14 UTC
- NASA Astronaut Spies on Super Bowl from Spacefrom Space.comMon, 8 Feb 2016, 19:12:25 UTC
- Obama picked Carolina Panthers to win Super Bowlfrom UPIMon, 8 Feb 2016, 17:09:03 UTC
- Record money bet in Vegas on Super Bowl 50from UPIMon, 8 Feb 2016, 16:34:10 UTC
- Blue Ivy, Apple Martin bond at Super Bowl 50from UPIMon, 8 Feb 2016, 14:50:48 UTC
- Marvel Studios' big presence in Super Bowl 50from UPIMon, 8 Feb 2016, 4:51:08 UTC
- Super Bowl 50 Has Some Surprising Space Twistsfrom Space.comSun, 7 Feb 2016, 14:00:53 UTC
- Does hosting Super Bowl 50 make financial sense?from CBSNews - ScienceSat, 6 Feb 2016, 20:39:56 UTC
- NFL Celebrates 'Super Bowl Babies'from CBSNews - ScienceSat, 6 Feb 2016, 20:37:36 UTC
- Meet the superfans who attended every Super Bowlfrom CBSNews - ScienceSat, 6 Feb 2016, 20:37:11 UTC
- Bruno Mars confirms Super Bowl 50 halftime show appearancefrom UPISat, 6 Feb 2016, 19:32:58 UTC
- Super bowl won’t make you feel super, even if your team winsfrom Science DailyFri, 5 Feb 2016, 20:18:47 UTC
- Anna Faris dishes on "Mom" and Super Bowl teamfrom CBSNews - ScienceFri, 5 Feb 2016, 17:40:55 UTC
- Super Bowl 50: How the Panthers and Broncos match up on social mediafrom CBSNews - ScienceFri, 5 Feb 2016, 17:37:42 UTC
- Time-Traveling TV: LG Super Bowl Ad Features 'Man from the Future'from Space.comFri, 5 Feb 2016, 15:50:39 UTC
- WARNING: Having your home team in the Super Bowl may be hazardous to your healthfrom LA Times - ScienceFri, 5 Feb 2016, 14:21:53 UTC
- Even for elite QBs like Cam Newton, returning to Super Bowl not easyfrom UPIFri, 5 Feb 2016, 6:32:45 UTC
- Star-studded Super Bowl 2016 commercialsfrom UPIThu, 4 Feb 2016, 20:06:19 UTC
- Super Bowl Teams' Cities See Spike in Flu Deathsfrom Live ScienceThu, 4 Feb 2016, 17:04:32 UTC
- Sports broadcast uses wrong logo for Super Bowl 50 previewfrom UPIThu, 4 Feb 2016, 0:03:25 UTC
- Sports broadcast uses hockey team logo in Super Bowl previewfrom UPIWed, 3 Feb 2016, 21:54:40 UTC
- Pizza Hut creates pie topped with $100 of gold for Super Bowlfrom UPITue, 2 Feb 2016, 18:34:10 UTC
- Super Bowl celebrations spread flu, according to researchersfrom Science DailyTue, 2 Feb 2016, 11:51:04 UTC
- Super Bowl cyber threat? Free, open Wi-Fi could be riskyfrom CBSNews - ScienceMon, 1 Feb 2016, 23:10:41 UTC
- Techiest Super Bowl ever: Stadium girds for big gamefrom CBSNews - ScienceMon, 1 Feb 2016, 20:38:38 UTC
- Super Bowl City spectacle descends in San Francisco ahead of gamefrom UPISat, 30 Jan 2016, 16:01:08 UTC
- Shopping tips for buying a big screen TV for the Super Bowlfrom PhysorgFri, 29 Jan 2016, 17:51:55 UTC
- Super Bowl 50 helps highlight California wine countryfrom CBSNews - ScienceFri, 29 Jan 2016, 15:02:20 UTC
- Clete Blakeman to head Super Bowl officiating crewfrom UPIThu, 28 Jan 2016, 6:43:41 UTC