This year’s U.S. flu outbreak has now become the worst in nearly a decade and has killed 10 more kids for a total of 63 this year.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported this week that as of Feb. 3, flu diagnoses and hospitalizations are continuing to increase and that 43 states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico were experiencing high rates of influenza-like illness (ILI).
“This is a very difficult flu season,” CDC Acting Director Anne Schuchat said last week, BuzzFeed reported. “We are not out of the woods yet.”
Flu season has many weeks left to go, and cases can even last as late as April or May.
Flu activity may be beginning to decrease in Western states, but is still increasing on the East Coast and is high throughout the rest of the U.S., BuzzFeed reported.
The strains of flu being seen this season are H3N2, H1N1, and influenza B. H3N2 has been most prevalent this year and is a stronger strain that is likely to cause more complications than others.
Children, the elderly, and those with weakened immune systems are more likely to get the flu and to have complications when they do get it.
CDC figures show hospitalization rates for the flu have been unusually high for the 50-64 age group this season. In addition, the rate of visits to healthcare providers related to the flu was 7.7 percent, which is the highest since the swine flu pandemic in 2009.
Medical professionals caution sufferers to seek medical attention if their illness appears to be getting better and then worsens again, USA Today reported. Such a pattern could mean the patient has become septic or a secondary bacterial infection has taken hold that could be dangerous.
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