CDC: 2015-2016 Flu Season Still in High Gear

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported that the 2015-2016 flu season is still in high gear, according to its latest FluView report for March 6 to 12.

Typically the flu season starts in mid-December and is nearly finished by March. However, the 2015-2016 season started late, and this new increase in flu symptoms suggests that it isn’t over yet.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

RELATED CONTENT
CDC: 2014-2015 Flu Vaccine Only 23% Effective
CDC: Seasonal Flu Vaccine Only 18% Effective
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The latest FluView report shows that outpatient visits for flulike symptoms increased from 3.5% during the first week of March to 3.7% the following week—significantly higher than the national baseline of 2.1%.

New York City, Puerto Rico and 14 states (Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, and Virginia) experienced high flulike illness activity, and 13 states (California, Florida, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Utah) experienced moderate flulike illness activity during the period. There were also 8 reported infant deaths related to influenza.

The CDC recommends the flu vaccine, which they have reported to be nearly 60% effective for this season, for everyone older than 6 months.

—Amanda Balbi

References:

CDC. 2015-2016 influenza season week 10 ending March 12, 2016 [page last updated March 18, 2016]. CDC. http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/index.htm.