A second wave of influenza is currently hitting doctors’ offices and urgent care clinics nationwide. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported that seasonal influenza activity is remaining elevated and increasing across the country. Up to a third of hospitalized flu patients develop bacterial pneumonia within a few weeks of their acute illness. The CDC has reported that nearly a third of flu tests came back positive during the week ending on Feb. 1, indicating an increase in flu cases. So far this season, there have been at least 24 million flu illnesses, with an estimated 13,000 deaths. The surge in flu cases could lead to a “double hit” on hospitalizations, particularly for patients needing ventilation due to flu or other illnesses. Flu A strains, including H1N1 and H3N2, are making up nearly all cases currently circulating. The CDC has reported the season’s only case so far of a person with a different A strain variant, A(H1N2)v, which was detected in a minor in Iowa in January who has since recovered. This variant is not related to the ongoing bird flu outbreak and is mostly spread among pigs, although this particular patient did not have any known contact with pigs. It is not unusual for flu variants to emerge from time to time, according to experts.
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