Flu illnesses have peaked after a particular dire season, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Friday.
The peak appears to have occurred at the beginning of February. The way the CDC measures that is by looking at the number of doctor visits associated with the flu, noticing that number fell beginning during the second and third week of February. The number of states that reported heavy flu traffic also dropped from 45 to 32 during those two weeks.
The virus is still circulating, however, and the current flu season that began in October has been one of the most severe seen in roughly a decade. The latest available data, which run through Feb. 24, show that 23,324 people this season have been hospitalized for the flu. Of those who were hospitalized, 67 percent had another illness, such as heart disease or obesity.
“Activity is still high in a lot of places … Where we are right now in terms of activity is what the peak last season looks like,” said CDC spokeswoman Kristen Nordlund. “We still have many more weeks to go possibly until mid-April.”
Latest FluView report shows 45 states and Puerto Rico continue to report widespread #flu activity. Although flu activity has peaked, and declined significantly for second consecutive week, there are still several weeks of elevated flu activity to come. https://t.co/amQD3NTAjV pic.twitter.com/npCIJ8L1bI
— Dr. Anne Schuchat (@CDCDirector) March 2, 2018
Federal health officials are continuing to urge that people get the flu shot if they have not already, that they avoid going to work or school if they are sick, and that they take prescribed antivirals, known as Tamiflu, if they become infected.
The latest death toll among children who died of the flu is 114, up 17 from a week earlier. Most were not vaccinated against the flu.
