CDC Reports 16 More Children Dead From Flu This Week, Peak Still To Come
By Michele
According to a recent report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention there were 16 flu-related deaths reported this week. This brings the total number of pediatric flu-related deaths to 53 for the season which began in October.
According to the report, influenza activity is now widespread in 48 states and Puerto Rico, down from 49 states during the previous two weeks. Oregon joined Hawaii in lower activity levels for the week ending January 27.
"We have not hit our peak yet, unfortunately," said Kristen Nordlund, a spokeswoman for the CDC. "It is not going down yet. Really, the bottom line is there is still likely many more weeks to go."
The CDC also recorded an uptick in patients who visited health care providers complaining of influenza-like illness across the nation, a rise to 7.1% for the week ending January 27 over 6.5%, the newly revised estimated from the previous week.
Overall, the data showed 17,024 new laboratory-confirmed cases of illness during the week ending January 27, bringing the season total to 126,117. These numbers do not include all the people who have had the flu, as many do not see a doctor when sick.
Here Are Some Tips To Prevent Infection
1. Get a flu shot, and get it now.
2. Get some shut-eye.
Studies suggest even a few days of not getting enough sleep can weaken the immune system.
3. Stay away from sick people.
(And stay away from healthy people if you’re sick.) The flu's mode of transmission is through the respiratory system, meaning that it enters either through the nose or the mouth of a person so if you're within three feet of someone coughing or sneezing, the particles can get in you directly and infect you too.
4. Keep your hands off your face.
Touching an infected surface (such as a door knob, subway turnstile, or library table) and then touching your own mouth, eyes, or nose could transmit and cause sickness.
5. Wash your hands.
6. Stick to healthy foods.
Many of our favorite superfoods are packed with antioxidants and nutrients thought to strengthen immune systems and bolster health.
7. Work out!
Exercise can keep that immune system strong.
8. Stop smoking.
Smoking can hinder our respiratory systems and decrease immune response.
9. Stay hydrated.
The hospitalization rate for 2018's fourth week is about 51 people per 100,000, which is higher than during the fourth week of the 2014-15 season, which recorded about 43 people hospitalized per 100,000. The 2014-15 flu season was considered "moderately severe" by the CDC and has been used as a comparison to the current season.
The 2017-18 flu season "unquestionably falls into the bucket of a severe year," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the United States' National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
"This year, 2017-18, for a strikingly long part of the season, completely parallels the 2014-15 year," he said. "Except that last week or the week before, 2014-15 started to plateau and turn around -- but 2017-18 continued to go up."
"We very well may start to see it peak and turn around," said Fauci of the current flu season. "I hope it does, because if it doesn't it will be an even worse year than we're thinking."
source: CNN
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