Flu season came early but too soon to say it's bad

January 10, 2013 by Mike Stobbe in Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

Flu season came early but too soon to say it's bad

Enlarge

Vials of flu vaccine are displayed at Philly Flu Shots on Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013 in Philadelphia. The flu season arrived early in the U.S. this year, but health officials and experts say it's too early to say this will be a bad one. Experts say evidence so far is pointing to a moderate flu season - it just looks worse because last year's season was so mild. Flu usually doesn't blanket the country until late January or February. Now, it's already widespread in more than 40 states. That could change when the next government report comes out Friday. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

The flu season arrived early in the U.S. this year, but health officials and experts say it's too early to say this will be a bad one.

Experts say evidence so far is pointing to a moderate —it just looks worse because last year's season was so mild.

Flu usually doesn't blanket the country until late January or February. Now, it's already widespread in more than 40 states. That could change when the next government report comes out Friday.

Flu season came early but too soon to say it's bad
Enlarge

Pam Horn administers the flu vaccine to employee Michael Karolitzky at Philly Flu Shots on Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013, in Philadelphia. The flu season arrived early in the U.S. this year, but health officials and experts say it's too early to say this will be a bad one. Experts say evidence so far is pointing to a moderate flu season - it just looks worse because last year's season was so mild. Flu usually doesn't blanket the country until late January or February. Now, it's already widespread in more than 40 states. That could change when the next government report comes out Friday. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

There are a few factors complicating the situation. The main this year tends to make people sicker. And there are other bugs out there causing flu-like illnesses. So what some people are calling the flu may, in fact, be something else.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

3 /5 (1 vote)  

Filter


Move the slider to adjust rank threshold, so that you can hide some of the comments.


Display comments: newest first

geraldkeister
Jan 11, 2013

Rank: not rated yet
Obviously you have not been watching the news on television.
Rank 3 /5 (1 vote)
Related Stories
Relevant PhysicsForums posts

More news stories

Little evidence for prediction rules for low back pain

(HealthDay)—Few randomized clinical trials have been done to assess clinical prediction rules for patients with lower back pain, and the trials that have been done are of low quality and do not provide ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created 14 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

New malaria test kit gives a boost to elimination efforts worldwide

A new, highly sensitive blood test that quickly detects even the lowest levels of malaria parasites in the body could make a dramatic difference in efforts to tackle the disease in the UK and across the world, according to ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created 18 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

WHO says single yellow fever shot is enough

(AP)—The World Health Organization says a yellow fever booster vaccination given 10 years after the initial shot isn't necessary.

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created 19 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

23 dead in initiation rites in South Africa

(AP)—Twenty-three youths have died in the past nine days at initiation ceremonies that include circumcisions and survival tests, South African police said Friday.

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created 19 hours ago | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 3

Expert questions US public health agency advice on influenza vaccines

The United States government public health agency, the CDC, pledges "To base all public health decisions on the highest quality scientific data, openly and objectively derived." But Peter Doshi, a postdoctoral fellow at Johns ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes created May 16, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0


AIDS science at 30: 'Cure' now part of lexicon

Big names in medicine are set to give an upbeat assessment of the war on AIDS on Tuesday, 30 years after French researchers identified the virus that causes the disease.

Temporal processing in the olfactory system

The neural machinery underlying our olfactory sense continues to be an enigma for neuroscience. A recent review in Neuron seeks to expand traditional ideas about how neurons in the olfactory bulb might encode information about ...

Melon focus headband turns to Kickstarter for rollout plans

(Medical Xpress)—What if the quality of your work depends more on your focus on the piano keys or canvas or laptop than your musical or painting or computing skills? If target users can be convinced, they ...

For combat veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, 'fear circuitry' in the brain never rests

Chronic trauma can inflict lasting damage to brain regions associated with fear and anxiety. Previous imaging studies of people with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, have shown that these brain regions can over-or ...

Now we know why old scizophrenia medicine works on antibiotics-resistant bacteria

In 2008 researchers from the University of Southern Denmark showed that the drug thioridazine, which has previously been used to treat schizophrenia, is also a powerful weapon against antibiotic-resistant bacteria such as ...

Study identifies new approach to improving treatment for MS and other conditions

(Medical Xpress)—Working with lab mice models of multiple sclerosis (MS), UC Davis scientists have detected a novel molecular target for the design of drugs that could be safer and more effective than current FDA-approved ...