29 children dead as flu season worsens
Boston Mayor Thomas Menino said there had been about 700 confirmed cases of the flu in Boston since October, up from only 70 last season.
An already-bad flu season is spreading, hitting the elderly and children particularly hard, the Centers for Disease Control said in their weekly update on influenza in the US.
Twenty-nine children have died from influenza so far this season, reports NBC.
According to the CDC, between 3,000 and 49,000 people a year die from flu but the severity of each season can vary widely. The CDC does not track adult flu deaths but says the majority of influenza deaths strike the elderly.
“If you’re around grandma a lot, make sure you are vaccinated,” CDC spokesman Tom Skinner told NBC.
“Health care workers need to ensure they are vaccinated.”
CNN reports that this season is the most flu cases the CDC has seen at this time of year in more than a decade.
Thirty states are now reporting "high" influenza activity, that's up from 24 states last week.
More than 5,000 people have been sick enough to be hospitalized.