CDC: High flu activity only reported in Hawaii

Hawaii was the only state to report high flu activity for the week ending March 1, only Texas reported moderate flu activity, federal health officials say. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's weekly flu report said Delaware, Louisiana, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Virginia and Wisconsin reported low influenza-like illness, while the remaining 42 states reported minimal influenza-like illness. For the first week in March, the national proportion of people seeing their healthcare provider for influenza-like illness decreased for the ninth week, reaching the national baseline of 2 percent. Baseline influenza activity is the level that clinical influenza activity remains in throughout the summer and most of the winter. Influenza-like illness is defined as fever -- temperature of 100 degrees F or greater -- and cough and/or sore throat above their region-specific baseline level. Four influenza-associated pediatric deaths were reported to CDC during the past week. One pediatric death occurred in the past week, the other deaths occurred in January and February. A total of 65 influenza-associated pediatric deaths were reported during the 2013-2014 flu season.