A nasty flu season is in full swing across the United States, with a sharp increase in the number of older people and young children getting hospitalized, federal health officials said Friday.
The latest weekly data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show influenza has spread across the country.
"Flu is everywhere in the United States right now. There's lots of flu in lots of places," said Daniel Jernigan, director of CDC's influenza division.
Of particular concern, he said, is the "very rapid increase" in the number of people hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed cases. The overall hospitalization rate for the week ending Jan.