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Western U.S. Hit Hard By Flu

An early, hard-hitting flu season is stretching supplies of this year's flu vaccine thin as more people seek out a shot to protect themselves.

Federal officials said Thursday that the flu has hit hard in 24 states, nearly doubling the number since last week and including almost the entire Western half of the country.

On Thursday, the CDC added Arizona, Indiana, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island and West Virginia to the list of states with widespread flu activity, meaning outbreaks of influenza or increases in influenza-like illnesses and lab-confirmed influenza samples in at least half the state.

Last week, only Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming were listed as having widespread activity by the CDC.

Cases have been reported in every state in the Union except Massachusetts and Washington, D.C.

It's one of the earliest and most active flu seasons on record, reports Early Show Medical Correspondent Dr. Emily Senay.
Alarmed by the deaths of children from flu, parents around the country are seeking the increasingly elusive vaccine.

Some public health clinics in the Bay Area are now only giving shots to the most vulnerable: the very young and the very old, reports Larry Chiaroni of KCBS Radio.

Some experts predict this year's death toll easily could surpass the annual average of 36,000 deaths.

However, epidemiologists are not ready to predict just how severe the flu season will be, since it still may peak as early as December, rather than February, which is the norm.

"What I'm seeing is a lot of people who are panicked and want flu shots now," said Dr. Mary Jo DiMilia.

"Panic is not justified and is really not justified in this case," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the federal infectious diseases center, on CBS News' The Early Show Thursday. "Taking it very seriously is justified. Influenza, traditionally and certainly this year, is a serious disease."

The spot shortages of the vaccine are prompting some health officials to call for greater federal government involvement in its production.

"Right now, flu vaccines are made entirely in the private sector, but some health experts say the government needs to intervene and possibly stockpile vaccine, so that everyone can get vaccinated if an especially dangerous flu strain should emerge," reports Senay.

The National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Wednesday that it is looking into importing additional flu vaccines from Europe.

Even with the widespread publicity the outbreak is getting, not everyone who should is getting a shot, said Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control.

"We know for sure there are people out there who meet the criteria for our immunization who are not going to get vaccinated this year and who wouldn't normally have gotten vaccinated in any circumstance," she told CBS News.

Even without the vaccine, Fauci, director, of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said there are common-sense precautions that people should take, such as "washing your hands, covering your nose and your mouth when you sneeze or cough. If you get sick and are sick, have a fever with a respiratory disease, don't go to work, don't go to school or day care center, to prevent others from getting infected."

In Colorado, where nearly a dozen children have died, the strain has begun its attack on the elderly.

Audrey Eleanor Menzie, 82, of Fort Collins had a flu vaccine shot this fall, but the Kansas-born former telephone operator died Sunday anyway. She had suffered from emphysema and cancer, but influenza was listed as the cause of death.

"She may have gotten it from me, which makes me feel bad," said her daughter, Marcie Bierlein. "The doctor said she did not have the reserves to fight it off."

In a spot check around the state, which has the most cases, coroners told The Associated Press they suspect the flu may have contributed to the deaths of four more adults. At least two were over 60.

In Dallas, a large public hospital reported a spike in the number of cases among pregnant women. In Ohio, some schools called off classes for the rest of the week because of the flu outbreak.

At Madison Junior High School in Mansfield, 250 of 900 students were out sick Wednesday, principal Timothy Rupert said.

"We've never closed down for flu," said Rupert, who has worked at the school about 60 miles north of Columbus for 23 years.

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