Flu Season Still in Full Swing

With flu season still in swing, it’s more important than ever to get that flu shot and practice good health behavior! As of the week ending on January 4, 2014 at least 35 states are now showing widespread geographic influenza activity according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In addition to the activity across the country, every state in the South Central Region is showing the highest level of influenza activity. The unusually high number of those affected by the flu prompted the CDC to issue an official health advisory notice to clinicians. The health advisory notice states From November through December 2013, CDC has received a number of reports of severe respiratory illness among young and middle-aged adults, many of whom were infected with influenza A (H1N1) pdm09 (pH1N1) virus. Multiple pH1N1-associated hospitalizations, including many requiring intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and some fatalities have been reported. The pH1N1 virus that emerged in 2009 caused more illness in children and young adults, compared to older adults, although severe illness was seen in all age groups. One common misconception of the flu is that fatalities are more likely to occur in the very young and very old–this is not the case with the pH1N1 strain. According to the Influenza Associated Hospitalizations in the CDC FluView Weekly Index, those ages 18-64 account for 61% of hospitalizations. This means everyone is at risk for catching the flu, regar...
Source: Network News - Category: Databases & Libraries Authors: Tags: General (all entries) Public Health Source Type: news