If you want to keep up on where and when the flu is hitting, then Roche Pharmaceuticals has just the Web site for you.

The comprehensive surveillance network at www.Flustar.com contains data that are compiled and analyzed twice each week during the flu season.

The site gathers data from four different surveillance networks, including rapid assay data and clinical diagnosis data, and then provides information about flu outbreaks on a regional and national level.

The network categorizes flu activity in communities as low, moderate and high. The site allows you to enter a ZIP code and returns detailed information about confirmed flu activity in that area and how it relates to activity on a national level. General information also is available about the flu, flu symptoms and treatment.

Ready reference
The Merck Web site (www.merck.com) is a definite candidate for a bookmark page. The newest edition of The Merck Manual is now available online in an improved, interactive format. The complete and in-depth information previously available is enhanced with photos, videos, animations, illustrations and audible pronunciations. The Merck Manual of Geriatrics is also available online.

After you've checked out the Merck publications, play the Merck MediQuiz with new quizzes published monthly. The Retro MediQuiz compilation features the last five years of quizzes.

The best medicine
Jest for the Health of It! (www.jesthealth.com) is a designed to help people find and use humor to enhance their health.

Created by Patty Wooten, RN, this site is just one part of her quest to bring humor and health to the world. Wooten, in addition to being a nurse and successful speaker, spends her time performing as a clown. Her company, Jest for the Health of It!, is dedicated to the promotion and development of therapeutic humor.

The site shares some of Wooten's knowledge regarding the power of humor in the workplace. Beneficial to nurses working on research papers and theses about humor, the site includes more than 50 articles on the topic of therapeutic humor, links to other humor-related sites and a suggested reading list.

Talking heads
Health care is becoming increasingly ubiquitous, but a laboratory in every toilet?

The idea sounds pretty far-fetched, but Twyford Bathrooms, an English company, is working to develop a high-tech toilet that will analyze human waste for disease, low fiber, diabetes, colon cancer and even pregnancy.

The Versatile Interactive Pan (VIP) has laboratory sensors in the bowl of the toilet that evaluate urine and stool samples. The computerized commode can send e-mail to the toilet user's physician identifying potential medical problems.

The company believes that because people find providing stool samples to their physicians embarrassing, they might find value in this $7,000 toilet.

Care plan connection
The CarePlan Resource Center (www.careplans.com) is a gathering place for health care professionals and students that provides nurses a forum to share ideas and resources.
The site is dedicated to the care planning process, including assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation and evaluation.

Available resources include a real-time chat room, discussion forums and libraries.

The easy-to-use chat room-equipped with sound effects in the form of laughter, gongs and bells-is an excellent place for nurses to meet to discuss patient care issues. Guest page comments indicate that student nurses and nurses working in long-term care find the site especially helpful.