CDC says it’s another severe flu season with up to 7.3 million people sick so far

Flu seasons have been particularly severe in recent years and this one in no different.

An estimated 6.2 million to 7.3 million people in the United States have been sick with the flu since October, federal health officials said Friday. At least half of those people have sought medical care for their illness and 69,000 to 84,000 people have been hospitalized during the Oct. 1 to Jan. 5 period, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated.

This is the first time the CDC has provided such flu estimates for the 2018-2019 season. The estimates are extrapolated from data from about 27 million people, or about 8.5 percent of the U.S. population, federal health officials said.

The CDC wouldn’t provide data on how many people have died from flu-like illness so far this season, adding it will do so once “there is sufficient data to support a more precise estimate for that outcome.”

The flu season typically runs from October to as late as May, with activity tending to peak between December and February, according to the CDC. The agency recommends getting vaccinated early, ideally by the end of October, before the flu starts spreading.

Babies older than 6 months should get vaccinated with a traditional shot. For toddlers age 2 or older a shot or a nasal spray called FluMist is recommended.

https://archive.fo/vrzt7

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/11/cdc-about-7-million-have-been-sick-with-the-flu-so-far-this-season.html

China broadcasts spacecraft pictures from moon’s far side

China on Friday broadcast pictures taken by its rover and lander on the moon’s far side, in what its space program hailed as another triumph for the groundbreaking mission to the less-understood sector of the lunar surface.

The pictures on state broadcaster CCTV showed the Jade Rabbit 2 rover and the Chang’e 4 spacecraft that transported it on the first-ever soft landing on the far side of the moon, which always faces away from Earth.

The pictures were transmitted by a relay satellite to a control center in Beijing, although it wasn’t immediately clear when they were taken. Officials with the China National Space Administration said they mark a “total success” for the mission in showing the rover moving away from its lander.

The pictures show a rocky surface with the jagged edge of craters in the background, posing a challenge for controllers in plotting the rover’s future travels, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

Among the images is a 360-degree panorama stitched together from 80 photos taken by a camera on the lander after it released the rover onto the lunar surface, Xinhua said, citing Li Chunlai, deputy director of the National Astronomical Observatories of China and commander-in-chief of the ground application system of Chang’e 4.

“From the panorama, we can see the probe is surrounded by lots of small craters, which was really thrilling,” Li was quoted as saying.

https://archive.fo/bJIBt

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2019/01/11/far-side-moon-china-broadcasts-spacecraft-photos/2545795002/