|
Flu Outbreak Hits Hard in 24 States
By DANIEL YEE, Associated Press Writer
ATLANTA - Federal officials said Thursday that the flu has hit hard in 24 states, nearly doubling the number since last week and including almost the entire Western half of the country.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (news - web sites) said the flu has hit all 50 states at least sporadically, and the season has not yet peaked nationally.
The early and intense outbreak in some Western states has swamped many hospitals with sick children and dried up vaccine supplies.
As far east as Ohio, several schools closed for the rest of the week because so many students are absent with the flu. At Madison Junior High School in Mansfield, 250 of 900 students were out sick Wednesday, principal Timothy Rupert said.
"We've never closed down for flu," said Rupert, who has worked at the school about 60 miles north of Columbus for 23 years.
At least 11 children have died in the outbreak, and some experts predict this year's death toll easily could surpass the annual average of 36,000 deaths.
However, epidemiologists are not ready to predict just how severe the flu season will be, since it still may peak as early as December, rather than February, which is the norm.
On Thursday, the CDC added Arizona, Indiana, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island and West Virginia to the list of states with widespread flu activity, meaning outbreaks of influenza or increases in influenza-like illnesses and lab-confirmed influenza samples in at least half the state.
Last week, only Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming were listed as having widespread activity by the CDC.
Anecdotally, this flu season seems to be worse for children, and the CDC said it plans to closely watch flu complications among them. Flu and its complications are the sixth leading cause of death nationally among children age 4 and younger, according to the CDC.
The CDC also said Tuesday it is trying to redistribute what's left of the 83 million flu shots made, and may buy fewer than 500,000 additional doses from a British maker.
|