Health

Virginia First State to See Flu Outbreak

by Karenke4 | February 3, 2009 at 01:48 pm

639 views | 3 Recommendations | 2 comments

Virginia is the first state in the US this season to report a widespread flu outbreak. The CDC performs weekly surveys to keep track influenza outbreaks, which occur each year in the cold winter months.

So far the aches, dry cough, sore throat and malaise of the generic flu have not spread too far outside of Virginia. But medical analysts predict it is only a matter of time before the severe flu spreads to other states.

"We can expect to see high incidence for the next six to eight weeks," said Laura Ann Nicolai, an epidemiologist for the Virginia Department of Health. "You can see the illness into March, April, even May."

You can keep track of the flu yourself with new technology such as Google Flu, which shows graphs of past year flu trends as well as color coating states according to their current flu status. The tracker currently shows a few states with moderate activity, including Virginia, with the majority of the country experiencing low flu symptoms.

"It's been kind of a ho-hum year," Dr. Nancy Cox, influenza chief at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told a meeting of flu specialists Monday.

But don't get complacent: Influenza usually ramps up in February, long after many people have forgotten the fall's campaigns to get vaccinated. Last year, there was even a spike in March.

0 See all footage | View Slideshow

Share: email story | add to any | | facebook | stumbleupon

recommend This comment thread is now closed

SweetKaran

at 15:03 on February 3rd, 2009

I didn't know that there were flu outbreaks..
but everyone seems to have caught it.. including my son

SweetKaran has contributed a photo to this story.

René

at 18:02 on February 3rd, 2009

Flu in the New Orleans areas since Christmas/New Years. Not everyone goes to the doctor here. You can always thell by what's selling at the dollar store in over-the-counter flu meds.