Health Officials Say Outbreak of Flu Is Worst in Four Years
The nation’s current flu outbreak is the worst in four years, federal health officials said Thursday.
“We are seeing obvious increases in illness and in deaths nationwide that reflect, or are the result of, the flu outbreaks that are currently going on,” said Dr. Karl Kappus of the national Centers for Disease Control. “The impact (of this winter’s outbreaks) in terms of pneumonia and influenza deaths is right up there with the peak of the 1980-81 epidemic,” he said.
The centers said the proportion of deaths associated with pneumonia and influenza in 121 major U.S. cities increased from about 5% at the beginning of January to 6.9% for the week ending Feb. 9.
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