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Business Meeting

Influenza Season

The objective of this project was to help a medical staffing agency that provides temporary workers to clinics and hospitals on an as-need basis. My goal was to conduct an analysis that will help plan for the coming influenza season; a time when additional staff are at high demand. 

Data

  • Influenza deaths data set was downloaded from the CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

  • Population data set was downloaded from the US Census Bureau.

Skills

Project/Tools

  • Translating business requirements

  • Data cleaning

  • Data integration

  • Data transformation

  • Statistical hypothesis testing

  • Visual analysis

  • Forecasting

  • Storytelling in Tableau

  • Presenting results to an audience

Key Analysis

On average, people over 65 years have a higher risk of dying from influenza than people under 65. 

These two charts perfectly illustrate and confirm my hypothesis.

My hypothesis
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What I discovered
  • From 2009 – 2017, the frequency of influenza deaths increased as people got older.

  • 225,139 people younger than 65 had died from influenza between the years 2009 – 2017. That accounted for 0.02% of the entire population.

  • During that same time period, 407,940 people older than 65 had died, which is six times more than the younger age group and accounted for 0.12% of the entire US population.

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Key Analysis

Most vulnerable 
  • The most populous states are also the most vulnerable.

  • California tops the list with 56,905 deaths between 2009 – 2017.

  • New York with 43,819 and Texas with 29,643 deaths, make up the top three vulnerable states in the country.

  • The least populous states are also the least affected states.

  • Delaware with 5,135, Alaska with 5,177 and Montana with 5,331 deaths between 2009 – 2017, make up the bottom three least vulnerable states.

Forecast for 2018
  • The most vulnerable states also have the bleakest forecast.

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Recommendations

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Where and when to send staff
  • The staffing agency should start with California, work their way down the list and send staff first and foremost to the most vulnerable states.

  • Flue season is more common during the winter months and typically runs from August to January. The agency should ensure that they have enough staff ready and available for those months.

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