WASHINGTON — The nation’s flu epidemic is getting worse, and D.C., Maryland and Virginia are an unfortunate part of the trend.
Flu activity has increased across the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s latest weekly flu surveillance report covering the week ending Jan. 27.
That week, the flu was considered widespread in Maryland and Virginia, and “local” in D.C., which is the highest level of flu activity the city can report.
Preliminary figures show that almost 300 new flu cases were reported by D.C. hospitals that week, compared with 100 new cases during the same week last year.
In Maryland, 7 percent of emergency room visits were for flu-like illness, up from just over 5 percent the week before.
In Northern Virginia, almost 12 percent of emergency room and urgent care visits were for flu-like illness, up from about 8 percent the previous week.
Health officials in the Commonwealth think the flu killed a 7-year-old boy from southwest Virginia on Wednesday, but they’re still waiting confirmation.
The boy had been diagnosed with flu and strep throat the day before his death.
