CDC chart displaying the percentage of pneumonia and influenza deaths for week 3 of 2013 as reported by 122 cities.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

During week 3, 9.8% of all deaths reported through the 122 Cities Mortality Reporting System were due to P&I. This percentage was above the epidemic threshold of 7.3% for week 3.

The media often portrays the statistic shown above as the actual death rate from influenza. It is a sampling from up to 122 cities throughout the United States and reports deaths listed officially as due to pneumonia or influenza. The percentage is indicative of the ferocity of the influenza season. It does not, however, portray the actual death rate from influenza alone throughout the nation.
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Laboratory tests reveal influenza types and percentage of specimens that are not influenza.

The only way to be certain that any patient has influenza is to submit a specimen for laboratory testing. There are rapid tests for the flu but they are less accurate than those done in a lab. While procedures vary widely across the nation, specimens are submitted to labs when influenza is the suspected diagnosis.
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E-mail from Jim Cohn, Walgreens Media Relations

We’re still offering flu shots at Walgreens pharmacies and Take Care Clinics. We’ve seen very strong demand in recent weeks and going back to when the CDC first reported an earlier than normal start to the flu season in early December.
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Flu vaccine supplies Jan. 10, 2013

Q. In yesterdays’ press conference, Dr. Bresee mentioned several times that a 50% flu vaccination rate was what the experts are hoping for. The CDC page on the vaccine supply states that 135 million doses are expected to be produced. That number is well short of 50% of the US population. Is the CDC anticipating a flu vaccine shortage for the 2012-2013 year?

A. from Thomas Skinner at the CDC – “Manufacturers set supply largely on previous year’s demand. Some vaccine out there. People who want to be vaccinated my have to look around for it”

Map of ILI activity in the United States for week 1 of 2013

The weekly influenza report from the Centers for Disease Control was released this morning and contained data through Jan. 5, 2013. The CDC held a telephone press conference this morning to cover the report and a new study on flu vaccine effectiveness. Drs. Joseph Bresee and Tom Frieden were the briefing experts.
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