Swine flu is extending U.S. flu season

WASHINGTON, May 16, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- The new swine flu virus is helping to extend this year's flu season at a time when it would normally be winding down, U.S. health officials say.

Daniel Jernigan of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told Saturday's Washington Post that normally by mid-May the winter flu season is nearly over, but not this year, as the new swine flu virus has been found in about half the tested U.S. cases.

"We would be expecting to see the season to be slowing down or almost completely stopped," Jernigan said. "But what we're seeing is there are some areas that actually have reports of the amounts of respiratory disease â?¦ that are equivalent to peak influenza season."

Two more U.S. deaths were reported from swine flu, bringing the total in the country to five. The CDC said a 33-year-old Corpus Christi, Tex., man died May 6, while a woman in her late 40s died last week in Arizona, while at least 173 infected people have been hospitalized across the country, the newspaper said.

"We know the outbreak is not localized but is spreading and appears to be expanding throughout the United States," Jernigan told the Post.