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The number of people sick with the flu is continuing to climb, and transmission is now the most intense it has been since the 2009 pandemic, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials said Monday. The federal agency continued to track and respond to the epidemic despite the government shutdown. Its flu laboratories were working Monday, and “we are continuing to look at data we have received from states so that public-health officials can know about their community and influenza,” CDC Director Brenda Fitzgerald said in an interview. (McKay, 1/22)

On Monday’s St. Louis on the Air, host Don Marsh discussed why the flu is so prevalent in St. Louis. Joining him for the discussion was Ken Haller, SLUCare pediatrician at SSM Cardinal Glennon Childrens Hospital and professor at Saint Louis University. Haller addressed how to navigate the flu including the symptoms, treatment and prevention, period of contagion and effectiveness of the flu vaccine. (Hamdan, 1/22)

At WellStar Health System, which operates hospitals across metro Atlanta, its emergency rooms are currently seeing 27 to 30 percent more flu patients than they did last year. Grady Memorial Hospital’s emergency department,which is always busy, is seeing 40 patients per day because of the flu or flu-like illnesses. (Teegardin, 1/22)