Flu Now Widespread in Nearly Half of States

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) latest weekly report on the flu, 23 states are now experiencing widespread flu activity. That’s a significant increase from the week before, when 16 states were reported to be experiencing such activity. It also represents a substantial increase from when WaterISAC last reported on the prevalence of flu, which was for the December 5 Security and Resilience Update when just 10 states were experiencing widespread activity. Most of the states experiencing widespread activity are in the south, west, and east. Although flu activity may be greater in certain states, the CDC notes that all regions of the country are seeing elevated levels of flu-like activity. It estimates that so far this season there have been at least 2.6 million flu illnesses, 23,000 hospitalizations and 1,300 deaths from flu. The CDC emphasizes it’s not too late to get vaccinated, adding that a flu vaccination is always the best way to prevent flu and its potentially serious complications. Read the weekly report at the CDC and further commentary at the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy.