- ATLANTA (Reuters) - The flu
is widespread in almost every U.S. state and the number of deaths due to
pneumonia and influenza is now at an epidemic level, federal health officials
said on Wednesday.
-
- Health departments in 45 states, New York City and the
District of Columbia reported widespread influenza activity for the week
ending Dec. 20, according to the latest data collected by the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention.
-
- Pneumonia and influenza accounted for 7.8 percent of
all deaths reported for the period, hitting what the CDC described as an
"epidemic threshold" for the period.
-
- These were the highest levels seen during the 2003-2004
flu season, which started about two months earlier than usual and has killed
at least 42 children and an unknown number of adults.
-
- Influenza, an infectious disease marked by respiratory
inflammation, fever, muscular pain and intestinal tract irritation, kills
an estimated 36,000 Americans and hospitalizes 114,000 every year.
-
- About 92 children under the age of 5 die from flu-related
illnesses in an average year, according to the CDC.
-
- A CDC spokeswoman said there were indications in a few
states that flu cases had peaked.
-
- Flu season runs from October until April, with the peak
usually occurring in the winter months.
-
- Public anxiety this year is high because the virus hit
the country hard in early October, before many Americans were vaccinated.
A subsequent rush for flu shots was complicated by a shortage of vaccine
in some parts.
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- Drug manufacturers produced 83 million doses of vaccine
for the 2003-2004 flu season, far fewer than in the previous year when
a large number went unused and were thrown away. The CDC is working with
the Food and Drug Administration to obtain more doses of the vaccine.
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