| ■ Slow Start to Flu Season in U.S. | 06.12.26 |
| There has been a slow start to the flu season in the United States this year, according to health officials. In a report released Thursday for the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR, statistics showed that influenza activity remained low in the country overall between Oct. 1 and Dec. 9, but did increase in the southeastern states. So far this season, influenza A (H1) viruses have been the most common, and most of those viruses are well matched by this year's influenza vaccine, the report said Patient visits for influenza-like illness and influenza and pneumonia death rates have not exceeded national baseline levels, the report said. No influenza-associated hospitalizations from the Emerging Infections Program or New Vaccine Surveillance Network systems or influenza-related children's deaths have been reported to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which publishes the MMWR. |