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" Tis the season \u2014 for the flu. But don&amp;#039;t let this lower your holiday spirits. Researchers at Columbia University devised a flu predictor that can figure out when and where the virus will surge as early as nine weeks before it hits. The tool, called Nature Communications, incorporates search results from Google Flu Trends and cases documented by the Centers for Disease Control. The model also takes a few notes from the playbook of weather forecasting, like taking into account historical information on infection trends. Week after week, this nifty new apparatus takes the actual number of reported flu cases and compares it to its own forecast, adjusting in case it predicts too many or too few cases. During the 2012-2013 flu season, scientists correctly identified peak cases in the southeast in December, while forecasting that most of the rest of the country would be hard-hit in January. Do you have a case of the sniffles and worried it might be more? Soon you&amp;#039;ll be able to see how likely you are to be affected. The predictor tool will be available to the public on Columbia&amp;#039;s Mailman School of Public Health website in the next few weeks. For now, check out our tips on treating a cold and getting your medicine cabinet ready for the cold season.  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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