Children returning to school after the winter holidays appear to be sharing more than just their new toys. They are driving influenza infections to levels not seen since the swine flu pandemic of 2009, public health officials said. By the time this flu season is over, experts said, more than 50,000 Americans will be dead.
While the year's flu activity is actually starting to cool in some regions, it remains high across most of the country and is gaining in other areas, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Mortality rates, which trail infections, spiked sharply, with seven additional children dying from the infection over the past week, said CDC Director Brenda Fitzgerald. Thus far, 37 children have died as a resistant strain of the virus has dominated the season. The government said that the number may double before its end.
"This rapid increase in cases that we have been seeing is after the winter holidays, and while it's among all ages, it's higher in children," said Dan Jernigan, director of the influenza division at the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. "It looks like a big part of the later January activity is flu transmission from kids returning to school."
There are several unique, worrisome aspects to this season's outbreak: It's hitting everywhere at once; it's continuing, rather than peaking quickly; and it's affecting a broader range of older Americans than in the past. The entire continental U.S. reported widespread flu every week for the past three weeks, Jernigan said in a conference call with reporters.
"We often see different parts of the country light up at different times, but for the past three weeks the entire country has been experiencing lots of flu, all at the same time," he said, adding: "We have several weeks to go."
