It’s Not Over Yet: The Flu Is Still Spreading This Year

(Bloomberg) -- Compared with last season, Americans could be forgiven for thinking that the 2018-19 flu season would end up being a quiet one. At this time last year, the rates of doctor visits and hospitalizations were finally starting to fall following a terrible three months during which thousands died.

But this year’s flu isn’t done with the U.S. yet. High levels of influenza were circulating in 33 states and New York City at the end of February, sickening residents and blanketing most of America’s South, where the illness typically first takes hold.

Many parts of New England and the West posted moderate levels during the eighth week of the year, a slight worsening from a week earlier, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

At this point a year ago, doctors’ visits for the flu were in the middle of a free fall after patients inundated hospitals and medical facilities for weeks. This season, it seems to be hitting a plateau.

In all, about one in every 20 doctor visits nationwide was because of flu-like symptoms, including fever, cough and a sore throat, according to a CDC weekly report known as the FluView. That’s higher for this time of year than in any recent season except last year’s epidemic, which killed almost 80,000 Americans.

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