As flu season draws near, two Georgia cities have been named in a ranking of America’s possibly sickest places. According to Soliant — an Atlanta-based health care staffing company — Augusta is the country’s eighth city you’re most likely to get sick in. And the Peach State’s capital city joined the list at 40th.
The 100 “germ capitals” were each ranked based on five different calculated values: air pollution, illness activity, asthma, public transportation germs and allergies. The values were determined based on data from several government sources, including the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.
“To most accurately calculate the final ranking, a range of values for each category was established and used to create a scale,” the staffing company’s website stated. “Cities were evaluated based on their performance within these scales, receiving a calculated value for each category. These adjusted values determined how each city ranked across all categories. The weighted values from all five categories were summed to determine the final ranking, with each category contributing an equal 20% toward a total possible score of 100. ”
Bakersfield, California — one of four Golden State cities to rank in the top 10 — topped the list with a sickness score of 59.1 Fresno and San Diego finished out the top three with scores of 57.89 and 57.64. Ranked just above Baltimore and below Memphis is Georgia’s “Garden City” Augusta.
“Topping the list, Bakersfield suffers from high cold and flu activity, poor air quality, and significant asthma prevalence,” Soliant reported. “Its combination of environmental and health stressors is a perfect recipe for a sniffle-filled season.”
“Right behind Bakersfield is Fresno, where the combination of bad air and allergy triggers means you might be dealing with more than just the flu — think watery eyes and lots of sneezing, too,” it said. “Known for its pleasant climate, San Diego surprisingly ranks third on the illness-prone cities list due to high cold and flu activity and elevated allergy rates. Despite its coastal location, poor air quality also contributes to its high illness score.”
At 52.46, Augusta outranked the Peach State’s capital city. Atlanta scored a 44.18 — over 3.5 times 100th place Honolulu, Hawaii.
And according to some of the sources used to make the rankings, the two Georgia cities have hazards to consider.
The National Environmental Public Health Tracking Network states that Atlanta’s Fulton County exposed its residents to an averaged 8.8 days of unhealthy levels of particulate matter in 2022 — the latest year of data provided. The neighboring DeKalb County had 10 days, one of the most in the state.
Augusta’s Richmond Country averaged a lower 7.7, but a single day of exposure to particulate matter has been linked to premature death in people with heart or ling disease, heart attacks, respiratory irritation and aggravated asthma.
According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, Atlanta ranked 43rd and Augusta ranked 87th among America’s 2024 “asthma capitals.”
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