Flu seems to be global, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday.
Influenza is is on the rise at the same time making for a “very active” flu season, the CDC said in its weekly update on the annual flu epidemic.
“Flu is everywhere in the United State right now. There’s lots of flu in different places,” the CDC’s Dr. Daniel Jernigan told reporters. Flu rates were about doubled this past week over the week before, the CDC said.
The season is shaping up to be acute, but so far there is no sign of setting any records, Jernigan said. The virus has already killed over 20 children and it is sending many people into hospitals and emergency rooms.
“We are seeing a very acute flu season. Early signs are that it might be severe,” Jernigan said. “The sense that the nation has right now is that a lot is happening.” Some emergency rooms in several states of the country have submitted that they are crowded and a few schools have closed, as happened almost every year, to help let local epidemics burn out.
“Flu seasons every year are bad,” Jernigan said. “Each year in the United States we have an epidemic of flu. Clearly, yes, this is an epidemic.” Influenza is a major killer.
Anywhere between 140,000 and 710,000 people in the United State go to the hospital every year with flu and 12,000 to 56,000 people lost their lives from it, depending on the season. Worst hit are the very young, the very old, and people with coexisting medical conditions such as asthma, diabetes and heart disease.
It is fact that flu can also kill healthy people [adults and children].
Each flu season is different and difficult to compare from one to another, but Jernigan said this season seems a little less severe than the previous years [2014 - 2015] flu season.
Flu vaccines are far from perfect, they are the best way to prevent getting sick from the flu,” CDC director Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald said.CONTINUE READING
SOURCE: NBC NEWS
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