The D.C. area has reached a high mark for people sick with the flu.
The Centers for Disease Control tracks the flu week by week, and so far this flu season, CDC numbers show high flu activity in D.C., Maryland and Virginia.
D.C.’s Health Department statistics show flu cases in the city spiked in the week before Christmas: 181 new cases of influenza were counted by area hospitals during the most recent reporting period. Most of these positive influenza cases are for young people between the ages of 5 and 24.
Virginia’s Department of Health said most new cases of the flu reported by doctors over the past 10 days were in Northern Virginia. Statewide, most of the people getting the flu are of a similar demographic as their counterparts in the capital: 13.3% of flu cases in Virginia are of youth ages 5 to 18.
In Maryland, the number of people hospitalized for the flu is down this week, but so far this flu season 305 people have been hospitalized, with more than a third of those over the age of 65. The flu often hits the elderly and young children the hardest.
So far this flu season, there have been no infant deaths in D.C., Maryland or Virginia.
