Flu Season From Hell Keeps Getting Worse

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 dominates the season. The government said that number may double before its over.