The US flu season is underway, with cases surging across much of the country, health officials said Friday. The AP reports that the CDC noted sharp increases in several measures, including lab tests and emergency room visits. "It's been increasing at a pretty steady pace now for the past several weeks," said the CDC's Alicia Budd. "So, yeah, we are certainly in flu season now."
The CDC called the start of flu season based on several indicators, including lab results for patients in hospitals and doctor's offices, and the percentage of emergency department visits that had a discharge diagnosis of flu. No flu strain seems to be dominant, and it's too early in the season to know how good a match the flu vaccine will be, Budd said.
Thirteen states reported high or very high levels of flu-like illness last week, about double from the week before. One is Tennessee, where a sickness spike is hitting the Nashville area, said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious diseases expert at Vanderbilt University. "Flu has been increasing, but just this last week has exploded," Schaffner said. He noted that in a local clinic that serves as an indicator of illness trends, as many as a quarter of the patients have flu symptoms.
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Last winter's flu season was considered "moderate" overall, but it was long—21 weeks—and the CDC estimated there were 28,000 flu-related deaths. It was unusually dangerous for children, with 205 pediatric deaths reported. That was the highest number ever reported for a conventional flu season. Flu experts suggest everyone get vaccinated, especially as people prepare to attend holiday gatherings where respiratory viruses can spread widely. "All those gatherings that are so heartwarming and fun and joyous are also an opportunity for this virus to spread person to person," Schaffner said. "It's not too late to get vaccinated."
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