This year’s flu season has officially crossed the epidemic threshold, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Fifteen children have died across the country from influenza, as the number of states reporting a “high” level of influenza activity jumped from 13 to 22 in one week.
The determination follows an earlier warning from the agency that this year’s flu season could be a severe one.
Keep in mind, however, that epidemic-levels of flu activity in the U.S. are a typical part of the annual flu season. In other words, it’s simply too early to determine just how severe this year’s epidemic will be.
The CDC uses several methods to track and characterize the outbreak. “Right now, all of the CDC’s influenza surveillance systems are showing elevated activity,” The CDC’s flu division said in an e-mailed statement. The influenza season reaches an epidemic level when the proportion of deaths attributed to pneumonia and influenza reaches a certain threshold: 6.8 percent. According to the CDC’s latest available information on the flu season, the percentage is currently at the threshold.
The recent increases in flu activity, along with influenza-related hospitalizations and deaths, are so far a “typical pattern for the flu season.”
Pediatric death tolls from previous outbreaks range from 35 to 171 deaths per season from influenza-related causes since 2004. That is, every year with the exception of 2009, when the annual flu season reached pandemic levels. During that season, 348 children died of influenza-related causes.
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SOURCE: Abby Ohlheiser
The Washington Post