KPLC 7 News, Lake Charles, Louisiana |Flu Season
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February 24, 2004
Reported by KPLC Staff
An early flu season that federal officials estimate will kill more than 36-thousand people has prompted flu experts to examine who should be vaccinated.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices is expected to discuss today whether everyone in the United States should receive the flu shot.
CDC experts told the committee this flu season was one of the earliest in the US since 1976.
Doctor Keiji Fukuda of the CDC says this was ``one of the more remarkable influenza seasons on record.''
The CDC says the flu killed 135 children in 38 states and caused severe brain damage in 39 children.
CDC officials say this year's number of flu deaths will be higher than the 36-thousand who die in an average season, though exact data will not be available for several months.
