State officials: 20 more deaths from flu last week

Tina Tan, state epidemiologist for the New Jersey Department of Health, said flu activity in her state was at “really high levels right now”. “It is more insidious, harder to prevent and little can be done about it” in a way he said is similar to someone experiencing a peanut allergy.

“We have heard from individuals concerned about reports of a shortage of rapid flu tests”, Pino said.

“This is an unusual pattern for flu in the U.S”, Dr. Dan Jernigan, director of the Influenza Division in the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD) at the CDC, said at today’s press conference.

Pediatrician Dr. Michael Sia vaccinated children in his office at Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children for swine flu.

The flu vaccine this year has an estimated 30 to 40 percent effectiveness, but it is still important to get vaccinated, especially with some cases of a more risky flu virus.

“Flu vaccination can reduce the risk of flu-associated hospitalization, including among children and older adults, and is an important preventative tool for people with chronic health conditions”, he said. Since there are predictable times of the year when the flu will be more common, researchers have time to produce the vaccine in preparation. Actually, though, health experts say this flu season is pretty much on par with other severe seasons.

“One of the frustrations is carelessness”, she said. Our message remains the same: “everyone 6 months and older should get the flu shot, wash your hands thoroughly and frequently, and stay home if you’re sick to eliminate the spread of the disease”. She wrote in a text message that she and several of her friends got sick as well.

Flu season is now in full swing, and for an illness with a vaccine readily available since the 1940’s, the virus seems to be running rampant across the United States.

New York’s historic flu season is continuing to worsen every week, Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said Thursday. This is about the same as flu seasons for the past few years. We saw a lot of cases three years ago. “So you physically just need a place to put a patient in, so this is going to help solve that”. We know it is the same strain of flu we have had the last three years.

The best way for handling the flu is to avoid catching it in the first place.

But it’s still a good idea to get a shot.