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Politics : Sioux Nation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: bentway who wrote (20278)	6/5/2005 1:53:15 PM
From: Wharf Rat	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 361089

Final figures show annual flu fears overplayed ATLANTA (AP) -- The flu bug didn't bite nearly as severely as most people thought it would at the beginning of the season in October. This winter's flu season was no more ferocious than any of the past five years, the government said Thursday. The flu season peaked earlier than normal, in late December in the U.S. and Canada. Many hospitals deluged with patients and some health professonals predicted it would be the worst outbreak in years. But with the flu season nearing an end, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 12,651 people -- about normal for the past five years -- have tested positive for the flu since Oct. 3. The actual number of people with the flu was in the tens of millions, but the CDC doesn't keep an overall total, instead tracking only cases confirmed by tests. Canada's flu numbers aren't in yet. Of the U.S. flu cases, 99 per cent were due to type A Sydney strain, which has been the most common the last three seasons. About 20,000 Americans and between 800 and 1,200 Canadians die of flu complications every year. The CDC said the U.S. death toll was probably about the same this year, though the agency is still studying that. In two of the past five years, 1995-96 and 1996-97, the season peaked in mid-December and January. Peaks in the other seasons occurred in February and early March. Many people suffering from flu-like symptoms have been infected with some nasty germ, but probably not one of the four types of influenza, said Dr. Andrea Winquist with the CDC's National Center for Infectious Diseases. Many common viruses and bacteria cause similar symptoms. "People tend to use the word flu for a lot of things," she said. canoe.ca