Flu continues to rage across West, Southwest United States

ATLANTA — The flu epidemic is in full swing in the West and across the Southwest, as just about every state west of the Mississippi through to California is in the red on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention weekly FluView for the week ended Jan. 26. 

As expected, many of those living in areas with high influenza-like illness activity were visiting their local drug stores for symptomatic relief. Drug store front-end sales were up 7.4% for the four weeks ended Jan. 26, according to reports citing Nielsen data. 

The proportion of outpatient visits for ILI was 4.2%, representing a steady decline in flu incidence across the nation. However, 24 states along with New York City were still reporting high ILI activity and 13 states along with Washington, D.C. reported moderate activity. 

Nine states, primarily in the Southeast where flu incidence peaked a few weeks ago, reported minimal ILI activity. 

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