As Flu Hospitalization Rates Reach Record Highs, Experts Warn Peak Of Illness Hasn’t Arrived Yet
The rates have already surpassed those of the 2014-15 season, when 710,000 Americans were hospitalized and 56,000 died. "Overall hospitalizations are now the highest we've seen" in nearly a decade, said Anne Schuchat, the CDC's acting director.
The New York Times:
Flu Patients Arrive In Droves, And A Hospital Rolls Out The ‘Surge Tent’
By mid-January, the flu season at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest here in Allentown was bad enough to justify dragging out the “surge tent.” The Band Aid-colored structure in the parking lot — an inflatable military-style hospital ward a bit like a bouncy castle — is outfitted with cots, oxygen tanks and heart monitors. Sandwiched between the ambulance helipad and the E.R. doors, the tent is mostly used as a holding area for walk-in patients who need monitoring. The extra space lowers the risk of infections in the main waiting room when the coughing and sneezing is at its worst. (McNeil, 2/2)
The Washington Post:
This Flu Season's Hospitalizations Are Highest In Nearly A Decade
This year's flu season has now sent more people to the hospital with the illness than in nearly a decade, federal health officials said Friday. Nationwide, during the fourth week of January, 16 more children died of the virus. So far this season, influenza has caused the deaths of at least 53 children, rivaling the death toll of the especially severe 2014-2015 flu season. Eighty percent of the children had not had a flu shot. (Sun, 2/2)
Bloomberg:
Hospitals Overflow As Flu Epidemic Spreads Unabated
The number of Americans hit by an already record-setting flu season continues to rise as hospitalization rates hit new highs, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday. Hospitals are more crowded than in the 2014-2015 flu season, which marked the previous record when 710,000 Americans needed medical care to beat the illness, said Anne Schuchat, the CDC’s acting director. The agency also reported the deaths of an additional 16 children over the past week, bringing the total number of pediatric deaths attributed to the flu to 53 so far this season. Half of them had no additional health complications that would have placed them at elevated risk, Schuchat said. (Cortez, 2/2)
The Baltimore Sun:
Amid Worst Flu Season In Years, Maryland Hospitals Seek To Limit Visits To Emergency Rooms
More than 3,000 people visited Maryland emergency rooms in the past week with influenza-like illnesses amid what state and federal health officials are calling the worst flu season in years. The flu is so bad that many local hospitals are asking most sick people to avoid the emergency room and limiting visitors to prevent its spread. (Cohn, 2/2)
NPR:
Children Have Been Hit Hard By The Current Flu Season
The current flu season is still getting worse, federal health officials said Friday. And it continues to take a toll on children.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported an additional 16 flu deaths among children, bringing the nationwide total this season for youngsters to 53. About half of those children apparently had been healthy and had no special vulnerability to this viral disease, said Dr. Anne Schuchat, acting director of the CDC. And the risk is not going away. (Harris, 2/2)
Houston Chronicle:
Flu Season: "It's Still Not Getting Any Better Out There"
Bad news for those thinking the flu season was due to taper off by now: It's still intensifying – nationally and in Texas. Texas' department of health reported Friday that the latest numbers reflect the highest rate of hospital and doctor visits for flu-related reasons so far this season and for any of the last four. Nearly 14.5 percent of such visits were for symptoms of the flu the last week of January, up from the season's previous high of 14.06 percent the third week of December and the last few years' previous high of 14.17 percent in 2014-2015. (Ackerman, 2/2)
NPR:
Researchers Examine How The Flu Virus Spreads By Studying Students
On a blustery winter day, Dr. Don Milton and his undergraduate research assistants, Louie Gold and Amara Fox, are recruiting students for his new study on how the flu — and other viruses — spread. As incentives, they have vouchers for the school convenience store and free hot chocolate. (Simmons-Duffin, 2/2)
Reuters:
Florida Nurse's Choice Words To Avoid Flu: 'Wash Your Stinking Hands'
A Florida nurse has offered some frank advice for people whose lax hygiene is contributing to a deadly flu outbreak, including "wash your stinking hands!" In the six-minute video entitled "After Work Thoughts", which has been watched more than 6 million times since it was posted on Facebook last weekend, Katherine Lockler unloaded her frustrations after long shifts in the emergency room. (Dobuzinskis, 2/2)
The Hill:
The 2018 Flu Epidemic: What You Need To Know
This year’s flu season is one of the worst on recent record, and federal officials warn it’s not getting better anytime soon. There have been 53 children who have died of the flu this season, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of the children who died, about half had no underlying medical conditions. (Weixel, 2/5)
Boston Globe:
Flu Activity Continues To Increase In Massachusetts
Flu activity continues to increase in Massachusetts, leading public health officials to renew their recommendation that people get a flu shot as soon as possible to help lessen the impact of the illness and protect oneself against a second strain of the virus. (Ellement, 2/2)
Georgia Health News:
Georgia’s Flu Death Toll Now At 51; Season’s Peak Is Still Ahead
Georgia now has 51 confirmed flu-related deaths, up from 37 on Wednesday and 25 just a week ago.The state Department of Public Health also reported Friday that there were 120 hospitalizations due to influenza infection in the eight-county metro Atlanta region during the week of Jan. 21 through Jan. 27. (Miller, 2/2)
The CT Mirror:
After Claiming 52 Lives In CT, Flu Season Has Yet To Peak, CDC Says
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday said the peak of the flu season, which has killed 52 people in Connecticut, is still to come. ...The CDC said there were an additional 16 flu deaths among children last week, bringing the nationwide total this season for youngsters to 53. (Radelat, 2/2)