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Groundhog Day report: Flu's worsening shadow blanketing US
Season continues to intensify
W groundhog
Dr. Doug Olson asks patient William Ness, 70, how he is feeling after his wife drove him to the emergency room and he was diagnosed with flu at Northside Hospital Emergency Room in Cumming, Ga., Monday. Olson says the hospital has been flooded with flu patients, prompting hospital crowding and shift changes to accommodate the traffic. - photo by Associated Press
NEW YORK — It looks like Groundhog Day for the nation's flu report, too: It's gotten worse, and there are weeks of suffering ahead.The government's report out Friday showed the flu season continued to intensify last week.One of every 14 visits to doctors and clinics were for symptoms of the flu. That's the highest level since the swine flu pandemic in 2009. Last week, 42 states reported high patient traffic for the flu, up from 39.Hospital stays because of the flu were also up.Experts had thought this season might be bad, but its intensity has surprised most everyone."It's been the busiest I can remember for a long time," said Dr. Doug Olson, an ER doctor at Northside Hospital Forsyth, in Cumming, Georgia.
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