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up front Saturday 15 February 2020
Amid coronavirus fears, a second wave of flu hits U.S. kids

Continued from Front and hospitalization rates
this season are not high
This flu season got off to "because we haven't seen
its earliest start in 15 years, the elderly as involved in
with surges of flu-like ill- this flu season," said the
nesses seen in parts of the CDC's Lynnette Brammer.
South as early as October. But 92 flu-related deaths
Most cases were caused have already been report-
by a type of flu that usually ed in children, a higher to-
causes substantial infec- tal at this point of the year
tions only in the spring, at than in any season in the
the tail end of the flu sea- past decade. And the hos-
son. pitalization rates also are
That wave peaked in late far higher than what's been
December and dropped seen at this point.
steadily for weeks after- The CDC said the reason
ward. is that two strains of the flu
But a second surge began that are tough on children
in late January. Last week are spreading in the same
saw another rise in the season.
percentage of doctor's of- The health agency is ex-
fice visits that were due to pected to release an esti-
flu-like illness, according to mate next week of how ef-
the U.S. Center for Disease fective the flu vaccine has In this Jan. 23, 2020, photo, a syringe with influenza vaccine inside heads for its mark during a flu
Control and Prevention. been. vaccination at Eastfield College in Mesquite, Texas.
"We have not yet peaked So far, only 15 U.S. cases Associated Press
for influenza. We are still on of the coronavirus have
our way up," Dr. David We- been confirmed, and no
ber, a University of North deaths. All but two of the
Carolina infectious-diseas- cases were in people who
es specialist, said of the pa- had traveled to Wuhan,
tient traffic in Chapel Hill. China, the epicenter of
Overall, the CDC estimat- the international outbreak.
ed that 26 million Ameri- The remaining two were
cans have gotten sick with spread from travelers to
flu this past fall and winter, their spouses.
with about 250,000 flu-re- Schaffner said that for the
lated hospitalizations and time being, it is easy to de-
around 14,000 deaths. termine a likely coronavirus
The viruses behind both case by asking about a pa-
waves can be hard on chil- tient's travel history.
dren and young adults. But It's possible that concern
they aren't considered as about the coronavirus has
dangerous to retirement- led some people with flu
age people -- good news, symptoms to go to the
since most flu deaths and doctor for testing this year,
hospitalizations each win- whereas they might have
ter occur in the elderly. just stayed home in other
In fact, the overall death years, Brammer said. q