Author: Steven Reinberg / Source: UPI
Americans aren’t out of the woods yet, as the flu season continues to spread across the country, health officials reported Friday.
One major shift that’s occurred is in the viruses that are circulating. At the start of the flu season, the predominant strain was influenza A H1N1, but now a more severe strain, influenza A H3N2, accounts for nearly half of all the new cases, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“It looks like we are moving from an H1 wave to an H3 wave,” said Lynnette Brammer, lead of CDC’s domestic influenza surveillance team. “There’s still a lot of flu to come.”
On the plus side, this year’s vaccine is more effective than last year’s was. According to Brammer, this vaccine is 62 percent effective against H1N1 and 44 percent effective against H3N2.
For children aged 6 months to 17 years, overall vaccine effectiveness is 61 percent, according to the CDC.
Getting kids vaccinated is crucial. This season, flu has already claimed the lives of 41 children.
Behind that statistic lie very real tragedies and heartbreak:
- In Lowell, Mass., CBS News reported that 4-year-old Puthiraksmey Paak passed away Feb. 16 due to complications from flu. Her heartbroken father, Sopheak Paak, said his family had recently moved to the United States from Cambodia in search of a better life.
- In San Diego, NBC News reported the first child death this season from flu in that city occurred when Julie Leyva Campos, 14, succumbed to the illness Feb. 12. Family members said she hadn’t gotten a flu shot and had an…
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