WASHINGTON, D.C. – Has the recent flu outbreak impacted you or someone you know? Odds are, it did, as the federal government says the illness extracted a heavy toll this season, killing, hospitalizing and sickening millions of people.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that between Oct. 1 and Feb. 15, at least 16,000 people died from the flu, 280,000 people were hospitalized with flu and 29 million people were sick with flu. CDC does not know the exact number of people who have been sick and affected by influenza because influenza is not a reportable disease in most areas of the United States. The agency says as many as 41,000 Americans may hive died from the illness this season. However, these numbers are estimated using a mathematical model, based on observed rates of laboratory-confirmed influenza-associated hospitalizations.
The overall cumulative hospitalization rate was 47.4 per 100,000 population which is similar to what has been seen during recent previous influenza seasons at this time of year. Rates in children and young adults are higher than at this time in recent seasons.
Based on National Center for Health Statistics mortality surveillance data available on February 20, 2020, 6.8% of the deaths occurring during the week ending February 8, 2020 were due to pneumonia and influenza. This percentage is below the epidemic threshold of 7.3% for the week.
