Nobody is safe from this year’s flu – not even elite athletes.
The dreaded virus has stricken Philadelphia Eagles starters Tim Jernigan, Ronald Darby and Mychal Kendricks ahead of team’s match against the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII on Sunday in Minnesota.
Both Darby and Jernigan missed Thursday’s media session due to illness. Kendricks was able to attend, however.
‘I’m getting over it right now. It’s like a cold, I don’t know. The whole team has it, though,’ Kendricks told ESPN.
‘I don’t think it had anything to do with us being out here. I think it started sometime last week. We’ll be fine. It’s not that big of a deal.’
The country is experiencing the worst flu season in a decade, with 53 children dying.
The dreaded virus has stricken Philadelphia Eagles starters Tim Jernigan (left), Ronald Darby (right) and Mychal Kendricks ahead of team’s match against the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII on Sunday in Minnesota
Kendricks (picturd)was able to attend the last media session of the session and claimed the men would get over
According to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, during the last full week of January, one of every 14 visits to doctors and clinics nationwide that week was for symptoms of the flu.
That makes it the highest level since the deadly swine flu pandemic in 2009.
Data showed 17,024 new laboratory-confirmed cases of illness during the week ending January 27, bringing the season total to 126,117.
The number of patients hospitalized with influenza was 2,221, which is about 51 people per 100,000 – a 21 percent increase over the previous week.
In New York City, 3,015 people have been hospitalized since the season began in October, 33 percent more than at this time last year.
Flu is widespread in 48 states, down from 49 last week, with only Oregon and Hawaii reporting less flu activity, the CDC said.
ata showed 17,024 new laboratory-confirmed cases of illness during the week ending January 27, bringing the season total to 126,117 (Pictured, Darby warms up, November 2017)
The number of patients hospitalized with influenza was 2,221, which is about 51 people per 100,000 – a 21 percent increase over the previous week
The child death toll is up to 53 – with 16 fatalities during the last full week of January Eighty percent of those children had not had a flu shot, the CDC said.
The child death toll is up to 53 – with 16 fatalities during the last full week of January Eighty percent of those children had not had a flu shot, the CDC said.
About half of the children who have been hospitalized this season for flu-related causes have no underlying conditions, and about half of the 53 children who died were ‘otherwise healthy’, according to Dr Dan Jernigan, director of the influenza division at the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases,
Dr Anne Schuchat, CDC acting director, warned: ‘We are not out of the woods yet.’
She urged people to wash their hands frequently and cover their mouth while coughing