Get your flu shot yet? I didn't. Actually I like flu mist better and didn't get that either.
Little White Lion Picture ~ Open bottle, pour on hands after touching anything in public places.
Flu Deaths in U.S. Rise Past Epidemic Levels, CDC Says
The worst U.S. flu season since 2009 intensified last week, killing hundreds more people as the viral epidemic spread to additional states, health officials said.
About 8.3 percent of all deaths nationwide were due to the flu and pneumonia for the week ended Jan. 12, more than the 7.3 percent level for an epidemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said today. About 90 percent of those deaths are people older than age 65, who are being hit particularly hard by this year’s flu strain, the Atlanta-based agency said.
The flu season, which has now been at epidemic levels for two straight weeks, may result in 36,000 deaths, said William Schaffner, chairman of the department of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tennessee. Infections will likely persist through February and March though cases may have peaked in some regions, including the East Coast and Southeast, he said.
More here: Flu Deaths in U.S. Rise Past Epidemic Levels, CDC Says – Bloomberg.
More Flu Medications Made Available as Epidemic Continues
Flu hospitalizations among the elderly rose sharply last week, prompting federal officials to take unusual steps to make more flu medicines available and to urge wider use of them as soon as symptoms appear.
The U.S. is about halfway through the flu season, which is shaping up to be worse than average and a bad one for the elderly, said Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
New figures from the CDC show the flu epidemic is continuing, with widespread activity in all states but Tennessee and Hawaii.
Nine more children or teens have died of the flu, bringing the nation’s total this flu season to 29, health officials reported Friday. That’s close to the 34 pediatric deaths reported during all of the last flu season, although that one was unusually light. In a typical season, about 100 children die of the flu and officials said there is no way to know whether deaths this season will be higher or lower than usual.
So far, half of confirmed flu cases are in people 65 and older. Lab-confirmed flu hospitalizations totaled 19 for every 100,000 in the population, but 82 per 100,000 among those 65 and older, “which is really quite a high rate,” Frieden said. “We expect to see both the number and the rates of both hospitalizations and deaths rise further in the next week or so as the flu epidemic progresses,” so prompt treatment with antivirals is key to preventing deaths.”
