News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – The nation's flu markers show that the flu has probably peaked, though many states are still reporting plenty of infections and hospitalizations, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today.

Though the percentage of doctors' visits for influenza-like illness (ILI) is still above baselines in all regions of the country, the overall national level fell from 3.6% to 3.2% last week, according to the CDC.

(CIDRAP News) – The 2011-12 flu season in most temperate countries of the Northern Hemisphere started later than usual, except for North Africa, and was mild in many countries, the World Health Organization (WHO) said today in a wrap-up report.

(CIDRAP News) – Influenza activity remained elevated in Midwestern US states but elsewhere was at low levels, while some Northern Hemisphere countries reported moderate flu activity, according to the latest US and international reports.

(CIDRAP News) – The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) expressed renewed concern today about H5N1 avian influenza, warning of a "possible major resurgence" of bird outbreaks and saying that a vaccine-evading strain has emerged in Vietnam and China.

(CIDRAP News) – Flu activity is increasing in many of the Northern Hemisphere's temperate-zone countries, with influenza B cocirculating with the 2009 pandemic H1N1 virus across Europe and teaming up with influenza A (H3N2) in the United States and Canada, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in its latest update.

(CIDRAP News) – Influenza activity jumped in the United States last week along with other Northern Hemisphere locations, and an official from the World Health Organization (WHO) said it's not yet clear if this season will make its mark as a bad one.