Close X
Thursday, November 14, 2024
ADVT 
Health

Flu Season Is Off To A Later Start This Year, And Experts See Signs That It May Be Milder

The Canadian Press, 18 Dec, 2015 12:54 PM
    NEW YORK — This year's flu season seems like old times.
     
    There's not much flu going around so far — unlike the last three seasons when doctors' offices were filled with patients before Christmas and illnesses peaked by late December.
     
    "It really is off to sort of a slow start" compared to that recent history, said Lynnette Brammer of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
     
    The CDC released its weekly flu count Friday. Only South Carolina is showing significant flu-related traffic at doctor's offices and clinics.
     
    Traditionally, most flu seasons don't really get going until around Christmas — possibly triggered by holiday gatherings that bring together people and viruses. Infected kids then go back to school, mingle with classmates, and flu season takes off.
     
    Using mathematical modeling, scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory this week predicted there's a 57 per cent chance this flu season will peak in February, and a 67 per cent chance it will be mild.
     
    Experts are still puzzling about why flu became epidemic so early the last few years. Factors might include the weather and what kind of flu bug was spreading the most, said Dr. John Treanor, a flu vaccine researcher at the University of Rochester School of Medicine.
     
    The CDC's Brammer said so far this year there's a mix of flu viruses making people sick. In bad seasons, one nasty strain dominates. And last year, the flu vaccine didn't work very well for the bug that caused most of the illnesses. This year's version was changed.
     
    The delayed season means there's more time for people to get vaccinated, Brammer said.

    MORE Health ARTICLES

    Get Kim Kardashian-Type Butt With This New Technique

    Get Kim Kardashian-Type Butt With This New Technique
    The technique involves taking fat from one area where you have a little too much, and transferring to somewhere you want a little more, reported a Brazilian plastic surgery team.

    Get Kim Kardashian-Type Butt With This New Technique

    What Can Help You Live Up To 100 Years

    What Can Help You Live Up To 100 Years
    Tracking 855 Swedish men born in 1913, researchers have come to the conclusion that refraining from smoking, maintaining healthy cholesterol levels and having not more than four cups of coffee a day can help you live to 100.

    What Can Help You Live Up To 100 Years

    Save Your Skin In Summer With Vitamin C

    Save Your Skin In Summer With Vitamin C
    Britain's expert nutritionist Jacqueline Newson shares the lesser known benefits of the antioxidant and talks about the best way to get vitamin C into your cells

    Save Your Skin In Summer With Vitamin C

    Hopping Food Brands May Lead To Overeating

    Hopping Food Brands May Lead To Overeating
    People who eat different types and brands of commonly available food items, such as pizza, are more likely to overeat than people who tend to consume the same brand, says a new study.

    Hopping Food Brands May Lead To Overeating

    Extra Two Minutes Walking Can Add Years To Your Life

    Extra Two Minutes Walking Can Add Years To Your Life
    A "trade-off" of sitting for light intensity activities for two minutes each hour is associated with a 33 percent lower risk of dying, the findings showed.

    Extra Two Minutes Walking Can Add Years To Your Life

    Hide Food At Homes, If You Want To Shed Weight

    Hide Food At Homes, If You Want To Shed Weight
    Having a low self-esteem related to one's weight and keeping food visibly available around the house, outside the kitchen, may increase your likelihood of being obese, says a new research.

    Hide Food At Homes, If You Want To Shed Weight