Flu Symptoms Slowly Gradually Going Down

Flu Symptoms Slowly Gradually Going Down

The number of people with flu symptoms who visited a doctor last week has gone down to around 3.2 percent from 4.2 percent from the previous week. The Center for Disease Control has indicated that the reduction may signal the end of the influenza season for this year.

According to the influenza surveillance head of the CDC, Lyn Finelli, the downward trend has been noted in a number of areas across the nation.

However it does not indicate that the season is already over. Although the number of people with flu symptoms has gone down, there are still a number of people who are affected with influenza. The influenza season this year came early and was considered moderately severe.

The number of children who died of flu for this season has reached 64. The numbers for the adults will not be available until after the season has ended.

The CDC indicated that the influenza season started around Christmas, which is around one month earlier than the usual start of the season. However, it appears to be starting to fade. The season normally starts when the number of people with flu symptoms who visit the doctor goes over 2.2 percent across the nation. Typically this percentage is around 1 percent.

The rate of people over the age of 65 being admitted in a hospital due to flu symptoms is normally high during the flu season. The influenza season normally has around thirty to forty seniors for every 100,000 admitted into hospitals during the season. The season this year saw about 140 seniors being admitted for every 100,000. Finelli indicated that this was the biggest rate of hospitalization among seniors.

However, it should be take into account that although having fever is normally considered a flu symptom among young people, people over the age of 65 may acquire a feverless flu.

Finelli indicated that seniors may acquire flu without having a fever. This means seniors should visit their doctor when they feel muscle and body aches as well as cough even if they do not experience fever, which is typically considered as a one of the flu symptoms.

Posted by George Daniels on Sunday February 17 2013, 3:16 AM EDT. Ref: USA Today. Link. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Health. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0