Flu season has its latest start in 24 years

[xchrom]

http://vitals.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/24/10499178-flu-season-has-its-latest-start-in-24-years

Flu season is off to a slow start this year.

Influenza activity in the U.S. remained relatively low from October through January — so low, in fact, that the current flu season is considered not to have officially begun until the first week of February, when hospitals reported a slight increase, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the last 29 years, the only other flu season to start so late was 24 years ago, during the 1987-88 flu season, the report said.

"This pattern is unusual, but not unprecedented," Dr. Joseph Bresee, chief of the epidemiology and prevention branch at the CDC, said today (Feb. 24) at a news conference about the report.

The majority of flu viruses now in circulation are similar to the ones in this year's flu vaccine, according to the CDC.

[BlueIris]

1. I am so glad I got a flu shot this year.

I still recommend them, and I think pharmacies may still be offering them.

[xchrom]

2. +1

[LonePirate]

3. I wonder if the mild winter in the lower 48 is partially responsible.

[kestrel91316]

4. I have a strong suspicion that's why. Warmer weather means

more people outside in fresh air instead of indoors where respiratory viruses spread so readily.