Will Flu Season Be Less Brutal with a Slow Start to Winter?
Warmer temperatures have delayed the start of winter’s cold weather.
FOX’s Tonya J. Powers has more on what that could mean for flu season:
Does winter’s slow start mean flu season is going to be less brutal this year? Well, the scientific answer is, maybe… Maybe not.
Joe Bresee is chief of Epidemiology and Prevention with the Centers for Disease Control and says it’s less about the weather and more about the timing…
(Bresee) “Flu seasons mostly peak between January and March. And so, we’re seeing an uptick now this week for the first time above baseline.”
He says the flu virus is pretty unpredictable…
(Bresee) “Flu viruses survive longer in cold and low humidity. We also know the flu spreads a lot in the winter because people get crowded into schools and workplaces.”
He says flu cases are popping up in the South and Eastern seaboard.
Tonya J. Powers, FOX News.