Worst Flu in 13 years

Debi

Owner/Admin
Staff
Joined
Sep 16, 2013
Messages
240,747
Reaction score
232,171
Points
315
Location
South of Indy
Flu season is shaping up as one of the worst in years, officials say

Flu season is shaping up as one of the worst in years, officials say

The entire continental United States is experiencing widespread flu right now, the first time in the 13 years of the current tracking system that that has happened, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Officials said that this flu season is shaping up to be one of the worst in recent years.

The rate of flu hospitalizations — the number of people hospitalized with flu per 100,000 — nearly doubled last week compared with the previous week. Last week it was 22.7 per 100,000 people; the week before that rate was 13.7.

At the peak of the 2014-15 season, one of the two most severe seasons in the last 15 years or so, 29.9 people out of every 100,000 were hospitalized for flu.

The latest data — for the week ending Jan. 6 — suggest the season may be peaking right now, the CDC’s director, Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald, told reporters Friday. But she warned that many more people will be infected before the season is over.

There’s a difference between an active flu season — when a large number of people get sick — and a severe season, when the numbers of people hospitalized for flu or who die from the infection are unusually high.

It can be hard to tell in real time where a flu season will fall on the severity scale, because sometimes reports of influenza hospitalization and deaths — especially deaths among children — lag.

That said, this year is starting to look like a severe season, and maybe more severe than last year, which was also bad, said Dr. Dan Jernigan, head of CDC’s influenza division.

“There’s lots of flu in lots of places,” he said.

So far, Jernigan said, this year’s season doesn’t appear to be quite as bad as 2014-15.

The influenza A virus H3N2 has caused the lion’s share of the illness in most parts of the country this year.

Full story at site
 
Having just recovered from 4 weeks of this, and family still in recovery, I urge you to take every precaution you can take to avoid getting this. It's really bad, folks.
 
Having just recovered from 4 weeks of this, and family still in recovery, I urge you to take every precaution you can take to avoid getting this. It's really bad, folks.
This is the first year in many years I did not get a flu shot. I put it off and then figured it was too late. Hope I get lucky.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Debi
This is the first year in many years I did not get a flu shot. I put it off and then figured it was too late. Hope I get lucky.
It was less than 10% effective, Lynne. Many who got the shot are still getting getting the flu.
 
It was less than 10% effective, Lynne. Many who got the shot are still getting getting the flu.
Well then I don’t ferl as guilty about missing it. We been a universal flu shot.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Debi