N.H. flu remains widespread, may not be spreading

Influenza remains widespread in New Hampshire, with the number of deaths so far topping the level during last year’s very mild season, but public-heath data seems to indicate that it is not getting worse, at least for the moment. In the first week of January, the percentage of patient visits to 25 reporting hospitals around the state that involved “acute respiratory illness” fell slightly, from 4.8 percent the week before to 4.5 percent. In the same period, 33 participating health-care providers reported a slight increase in the percentage of patients with “influenza-like illness,” from 2.2 percent up in the prior week, up to 2.4 percent. Those are the two major surveillance methods used to track the spread of flu. Neither has reached the level considered an epidemic, but both are high enough for the disease to be considered widespread. Virtually every state in the nation has flu at the widespread level. On Thursday, officials said the number of flu-related deaths in the station this flu season has increased to 20.