CDC: Flu season fairly typical, despite severe start in the West.

2004 MAY 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The flu season turned out to be fairly typical, despite an alarmingly severe start that killed dozens of children and flooded emergency rooms with sick kids, primarily in the West, the U.S. government says.

The percentage of doctor visits and deaths related to the flu were above average, but other recent flu seasons appear to have been worse, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said. For example, a potent flu strain made the 1999-2000 season worse than this year.

"The current season was more severe than the previous three seasons but was within the range expected" for a typical flu season, CDC officials said in a study.

Health officials do not keep a tally of flu cases because of the difficulty in tracking the virus. But an average of 36,000 people die each year in the United States from the flu, according to the agency.

Health officials said the virus killed 142 children this year. The outbreak did not appear to be especially deadly for children, at least for those under 5, officials said.

According to preliminary CDC data, this flu season started early (in October), peaked between late November and December, and declined rapidly through February.

The fast start caused widespread fear across the United States. Schools closed because so many students came down with the flu, doctors had to turn away droves of sick people, and a vaccine shortage only added to the woes.