I was recently informed that each time a child is absent from school their parents are contacted for a reason. If the parents say their child has a cough and a fever a tally mark is made on a handy pad of paper. This count is then forwarded to the district nurse, who then tally's up the districts count of "cough with fever". This is then sent to the County Health Dept. who use this number to tally just how many individuals have the H1N1 virus.
Sounds scientific to me.
