CDC: Millions already sickened with flu this season

Jan. 12--More than 6 million people have been sick with influenza this season, according to data released Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but Illinois numbers show this season, so far, hasn't been as severe as last year's.

The CDC estimates between 6.2 million and 7.3 million people across the country have been infected with the flu -- defined as having a high fever, sore throat and other symptoms. Of those sickened, between 2.9 million and 3.5 million visited a doctor, and an estimated 69,000 to 83,500 were hospitalized, according to the CDC's report. Those numbers are based on data from about 8.5 percent of the U.S. population, or about 27 million people.

This year, the CDC will track the flu during the course of the season, which began in October. Friday's report includes illnesses contracted since the start of the season through Jan. 5 and will be updated each week. In previous years, the CDC has issued such data at the end of the season. However, the report did not provide data on pediatric deaths from influenza, which is another marker that health officials track.

In Illinois, the most recent data (which also goes through Jan. 5) shows 163 people have been hospitalized for influenza this season, and one child has died, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. Only child deaths are reported.

The state also tracks people visiting doctor's offices and clinics at sites throughout the state to record how many report influenzalike symptoms. Typically, at any point in the year, about 1.8 percent of patients will report those symptoms, said IDPH spokeswoman Melaney Arnold. Last week that number was 2.93 percent.

In Illinois, reported influenza illnesses for this year are trending far below last year, when flulike illnesses peaked in mid- to late December with more than 6 percent of patients visiting physicians with those symptoms, Arnold said.

"Last year was a high-severity season," she said.

The CDC estimates about 49 million people were sickened with flu last season, deemed the deadliest in decades, including 960,000 people who were hospitalized. And nearly 80,000 died, including 180 children, according to the CDC.

Last month, a 3-year-old Aurora girl died from flu-related complications, according to Kane County officials. Kane County coroner Robert Russell said that after feeling sick for a couple days, the child was taken Dec. 21 to Rush Copley Medical Center in Aurora and died.

Russell said he was unable to find any congenital or pre-existing medical conditions, and her doctors said she was up to date on her immunizations, but it was unclear if the child had received a flu shot.

Because the season can last into April and even as late as May, Arnold and the CDC's recent report urge people to get immunized if they haven't already done so. This year's flu shot covers three or four strains of influenza A and B, Arnold said, and is about 46 to 49 percent effective.

Previous seasons, including last year's, indicate that while influenza A tends to spike earlier in the season, influenza B is more rampant in the late winter and spring months, Arnold said, "so getting a flu shot is still a good idea."

Last year's severe flu season had a low vaccination rate among adults -- about 37 percent, according to the CDC, and about 80 percent of those who died from flu complications had not gotten a flu shot.

The Washington Post contributed.

kthayer@chicagotribune.com

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