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Figure 7. Incidence of influenza cases is monitored in the United
States on a weekly basis from October through May as part of a global surveillance
of the virus. Among other things, the surveillance tracks the type of flu
circulating, whether there are changes in the virus and the impact the flu
has on the number of deaths. In early January, the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta reported that the incidence of flu-related
deaths in the U.S. has increased in the past three decades largely because
the aging population is more vulnerable to the disease. Here the influenza
activity for the week ending on December 28, 2002 is shown for each state
as reported by epidemiologists to the CDC. (See www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/flu/weekly.htm)
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