Flu Season Doctor Visits Reached Record at Early Peak
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Patients visited outpatient clinics for flu-like illnesses at one of the highest recorded rates during the peak of last season, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported today.
The 2012-2013 flu season peaked early in late December and was “moderately severe,” the CDC said in its latest Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. One hundred and ninety-one of every 100,000 people over 65 were hospitalized, two and a half times the previous highest rate for the age group. Influenza and pneumonia deaths exceeded the epidemic threshold for 13 consecutive weeks from the end of December through March.