Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Cases of H1N1 Have Dwindled, Seasonal Flu Has Been a No-Show

The Flu Season That Fizzled - WSJ.com
http://tinyurl.com/yhkeuwb

The Flu Season That Fizzled
Cases of H1N1 Have Dwindled, Seasonal Flu Has Been a No-Show and Doctors Wonder Why

By BETSY MCKAY
[flu]

This has been a flu season like few others.

Normally at this time of year, influenza is rampant in the U.S., prompting hundreds of thousands of people to stay home in the dead of winter with fever, aches and pains.

Now, after raging through college campuses and communities last summer and fall, cases of the new H1N1 swine flu virus have dwindled to a trickle, and run-of-the-mill seasonal flu has barely made an appearance. Not one state reported widespread flu illness to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the week ended Feb. 20, the latest data available. The percentage of all doctors' visits by patients with influenza-like symptoms has dropped from a high of 7.8% in late October—the largest peak since the agency began surveillance in 1997—to 1.8% in late February, well below the norm for flu season."

To read more, read the full article at the Wall Street Journal website.

The Flu Season That Fizzled - WSJ.com
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703429304575095743102260012.html?mod=rss_Today%27s_Most_Popular#printMode