Rough flu season growing worse
NEW YORK — The flu has further tightened its grip on the U.S. The season is now as bad as the swine flu epidemic nine years ago.
A government report out Friday shows 1 of every 13 visits to the doctor last week was for fever, cough and other symptoms of the flu. That ties the highest level seen in the U.S. during the swine flu in 2009. And it surpasses every winter flu season since 2003, when the government changed the way it measures flu.
This season started early and has been driven by a nasty type of flu that tends to put more people in the hospital and cause more deaths than other more common flu bugs. Its long-lasting intensity has surprised experts, who are still sorting out why it’s been so bad.