Flu Season May Not Have Peaked: CDC

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By Kathleen Doheny
WebMD Health News
Reviewed by Arefa Cassoobhoy, MD, MPH
Jan. 9, 2015 -- This year's flu season is still bad, and it’s too soon to say whether it has peaked, officials from the CDC warned Friday.
"This flu season is shaping up to be a severe one, especially for older people, young children, and those with underlying conditions," said CDC director Tom Frieden, MD, referring to conditions like asthma, sickle cell disease and other health problems.
During the press briefing, Frieden urged people who haven't gotten vaccinated to get a flu shot. People with symptoms should get to their doctor quickly for antiviral medicines to reduce the severity of the illness, he said.
For the week ending Jan. 3, widespread or high flu activity had been reported in 46 states, according to the CDC. “Flu is widespread almost everywhere,â€￾ he said.
More than 5,400 flu-related hospitalizations have been reported, according to the CDC, although that data is from only 13 states and doesn't reflect the total number. Twenty-six children have died. The CDC doesn't track adult deaths from the flu, but the proportion of deaths attributed to both pneumonia and flu is slightly above the “epidemicâ€￾ threshold after dipping below it last week.
This season's dominant flu strain, H3N2, is one that public health officials did not figure would be common this year, Frieden said. So the flu vaccine ''cocktail'' did not include that, and immunization is not as effective as in some past years. The CDC expects to have an update on vaccine's effectiveness in coming weeks, he said.
“We’re right in the middleâ€￾ of the flu season, Frieden said. But cases might be declining in some states where the flu began early.
On average, a flu season continues for 13 weeks, and the U.S. is about 7 weeks in, he said.
[h=3]What to Do if You Have Symptoms[/h]This year's vaccine might still offer some protection against other flu strains, Frieden said. So it still makes sense to get it if you haven't yet.
If you catch the flu, or you think you might be coming down with it, let your doctor know ASAP. Antiviral medications can help, Frieden said.