The flu is soaring in 7 U.S. states and rising in others, health officials say
Source: PBS News Hour/AP
Nov 17, 2023 2:52 PM EST
NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. flu season is underway, with at least seven states reporting high levels of illnesses and cases rising in other parts of the country, health officials say.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted new flu data on Friday, showing very high activity last week in Louisiana, and high activity in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, New Mexico and South Carolina. It was also high in the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, the U.S. territory where health officials declared an influenza epidemic earlier this month.
“We’re off to the races,” said Dr. William Schaffner, a Vanderbilt University infectious diseases expert Traditionally, the winter flu season ramps up in December or January. But it took off in October last year, and is making a November entrance this year.
Flu activity was moderate but rising in New York City, Arkansas, California, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. And while flu activity has been high in Alaska for weeks, the state did not report data last week, so it wasn’t part of the latest count.
Read more: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/the-flu-is-soaring-in-7-u-s-states-and-rising-in-others-health-officials-say
Link to CDC's Weekly U.S. Influenza Surveillance Report - https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/index.htm
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Never as much as a cough.
I do sneeze in the evenings but that’s because of the histamines in red wine. 
Response to GP6971 (Reply #12)
I didn't get all the flu shots because for 2 days, I've felt like I swallowed some glass down my throat.
Every cough is a big deal.
As with everybody, I've had some form of Flu, but this one is a Bad Boy. 
I hope none of you catch this nasty thing...
...and felt better. Took 3 days to get to this point. At the worst of it, my neck muscles were
not happy with all the coughing.
Ice cream does help a lot. I'll tell my husband to get more ice cream and also chocolate cake.
You Did say ice cream and lots of chocolate cake..Right? 
But then I did get the flu anyway in April 2022 despite having gotten the shot. I was told it was "Type A."
I used to get it every October, but now when September rolls around, and I hear that they’re available, I pop in for a shot. They should have a campaign for younger people that says “let’s do shots” 
We have enough Targets around here that last year I ended up getting a free toaster.
but I never get a flu shot. I'm 75 years old, last had flu sometime in the mid-1970s.
I got influenza any number of times in my youth, including the Asian flu in 1957. Essentially, I've had enough variations of flu that I'm pretty much immune to any of them.
Individual immune systems vary wildly. That's one of the things we're seeing with Covid. It's not quite as obvious with flu, but pay attention. Some get it, and get very sick. Some get it and die. Some get it and recover easily.
What's not clear at this point is who gets what, or why. In my personal case I think that the fact I got sick A LOT in my early childhood, is a factor. Plus, I'm of the generation that got all the so-called childhood diseases: measles, mumps, chicken pox, rubella. I'm glad we now have vaccines for all of them. I got all of them, survived, which boosted my immune system, and perhaps that's why I'm so phenomenally healthy today. Why I don't get sick.
Oh, and as for the common cold, here's this: there are about 200 rhino-viruses that cause the common cold. Once you've had one and recovered, you're now permanently immune to that specific virus. Which is why older people almost never get colds. They've essentially had them all. I've had maybe two in the past 15 years. All of you young folks can look forward to a future with fewer colds. 
