It appears that this Flu season may be worse than expected,
according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC).
NAHAM News previously reported a CDC warning about an early
flu season in November (CDC
Predicts a Bad Flu Season), but new data show that the numbers are getting
worse. For the fourth week in a row, the share of people seeking treatment from
health care providers for flu like symptoms rose. As of the week ending on
December 29th, twenty-nine (29) states had reported high levels of
flu activity, and two child deaths were linked to the flu.
The CDC weekly flu report, which can be found here, reported that 5.6 percent of
all outpatient doctor visits for the last week in December were flu related.
This is up from 2.2 percent the previous month, and is well above last year’s
season, which peaked at 2.2 percent.
While these numbers can seem troubling, the CDC is assuring
citizens that the rates are still below the epidemic threshold, and are still
below the 7.7 percent rate that was seen during the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic.
Also promising, there has been no shortage of flu
vaccinations reported this year.
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