Over the past 26 flu seasons, flu activity has peaked in February more often than in any other month.
Source: CDC
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FactCheck Mailbag, Week of Oct. 13-Oct. 19
This week, readers sent us comments on the flu vaccine, fabricated Limbaugh quotes and FactCheck fact-checking. In the FactCheck Mailbag we feature some of the e-mail we receive.
Readers can send comments to editor@factcheck.org. Letters may be edited for length.
October 20, 2009
Each year in the U.S., 5 percent to 20 percent of the population on average gets the flu. About 36,000 die from flu-related causes.
Source: CDC
October 19, 2009
China is the world’s top apple producer.
Source: USDA
October 18, 2009
Pumpkins can range in size from less than a pound to more than a thousand pounds.
Source: University of Illinois
October 17, 2009
Illinois, one of the top four pumpkin-producing states, produced 496 million pounds of pumpkins in 2008.
Source: University of Illinois
October 16, 2009
Forty-nine percent of 18- and 19-year-olds in the U.S. were enrolled in college in 2007.
Source: Census Bureau
October 15, 2009
The average in-state tuition, room and board at U.S. four-year public colleges and universities was $14,915 for the 2007-08 academic year. That’s more than double the cost in 1990.
Source: Census Bureau
FactCheck Mailbag, Week of Oct. 6-Oct. 12
This week, readers sent us comments on gas prices, insurance costs, and FactCheck.org’s liberal and conservative biases.
In the FactCheck Mailbag we feature some of the e-mail we receive. Readers can send comments to editor@factcheck.org. Letters may be edited for length.
October 14, 2009
Mammography screening rates by state for women aged 40 and older who had a mammogram within the previous year range from 48.7 percent in Oklahoma to 71.4 percent in Massachusetts.
Source: American Cancer Society