{"id":92693,"date":"2018-01-14T14:35:26","date_gmt":"2018-01-14T18:35:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=92693"},"modified":"2018-01-14T14:35:26","modified_gmt":"2018-01-14T18:35:26","slug":"flu-season-is-shaping-up-as-one-of-the-worst-in-years-officials-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=92693","title":{"rendered":"Flu season is shaping up as one of the worst in years, officials say"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A patient recovers from the flu at the Palomar Medical Center in Escondido, Calif.
GREGORY BULL\/AP<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

By HELEN BRANSWELL
\nStat News<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Officials said that\u00a0this flu season<\/a>\u00a0is shaping up to be one of the worst in recent years.<\/p>\n

The rate of flu hospitalizations \u2014 the number of people hospitalized with flu per 100,000 \u2014 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The latest data \u2014 for the week ending Jan. 6 \u2014 suggest the season may be peaking right now, the CDC\u2019s director, Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald, told reporters Friday. But she warned that many more people will be infected before the season is over.<\/p>\n

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There\u2019s a difference between an active flu season \u2014 when a large number of people get sick \u2014 and a severe season, when the numbers of people hospitalized for flu or who die from the infection are unusually high.<\/p>\n

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 \u2014 especially deaths among children \u2014 lag.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s influenza division.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s lots of flu in lots of places,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

So far, Jernigan said, this year\u2019s season doesn\u2019t appear to be quite as bad as 2014-15.<\/p>\n

The influenza A virus\u00a0H3N2<\/a>\u00a0has caused the lion\u2019s share of the illness in most parts of the country this year.<\/p>\n

But recently there\u2019s been an uptick in activity by another influenza A virus, H1N1, Jernigan said, warning that even if the season appears to have peaked, flu viruses will circulate for weeks to come and people should continue to take precautions against getting infected.<\/p>\n

Jernigan said that people over the age of 65 are being hospitalized for flu this season more than any other population. Even people age 50 to 64 are being hospitalized in high numbers.<\/p>\n

Flu often hits the ends of the age spectrum more than the middle, and that\u2019s the case this year as well. The CDC reported seven more children have died from flu, bringing the season total to 20 so far. While tragic, that number is low in comparison with other years \u2014 110 last year, 92 in 2015-2016. But if other seasons are a gauge, that grim tally may continue to rise in coming weeks.<\/p>\n