Flu Shot Learning: Predict H1N1 and Seasonal Flu Vaccines

Can you predict whether people got H1N1 and seasonal flu vaccines using information they shared about their backgrounds, opinions, and health behaviors? #health

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About the data


The data for this competition comes from the National 2009 H1N1 Flu Survey (NHFS).

In their own words:

The National 2009 H1N1 Flu Survey (NHFS) was sponsored by the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD) and conducted jointly by NCIRD and the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The NHFS was a list-assisted random-digit-dialing telephone survey of households, designed to monitor influenza immunization coverage in the 2009-10 season.

The target population for the NHFS was all persons 6 months or older living in the United States at the time of the interview. Data from the NHFS were used to produce timely estimates of vaccination coverage rates for both the monovalent pH1N1 and trivalent seasonal influenza vaccines.


The NHFS was conducted between October 2009 and June 2010. It was one-time survey designed specifically to monitor vaccination during the 2009-2010 flu season in response to the 2009 H1N1 pandemic. The CDC has other ongoing programs for annual phone surveys that continue to monitor seasonal flu vaccination.

Data use restrictions

The source dataset comes with the following data use restrictions:

The Public Health Service Act (Section 308(d)) provides that the data collected by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), may be used only for the purpose of health statistical reporting and analysis.

Any effort to determine the identity of any reported case is prohibited by this law.

NCHS does all it can to ensure that the identity of data subjects cannot be disclosed. All direct identifiers, as well as any characteristics that might lead to identification, are omitted from the data files. Any intentional identification or disclosure of a person or establishment violates the assurances of confidentiality given to the providers of the information.

Therefore, users will:

  1. Use the data in these data files for statistical reporting and analysis only.
  2. Make no use of the identity of any person or establishment discovered inadvertently and advise the Director, NCHS, of any such discovery (1 (800) 232-4636).
  3. Not link these data files with individually identifiable data from other NCHS or non-NCHS data files.

By using these data, you signify your agreement to comply with the above requirements.

Additional resources