New York citizens are on the hunt for a pharmacy in order to get the last provisions of flu vaccines after the Governor Andrew Cuomo declared a public health emergency throughout the New York State. With more than 19,000 influenza cases – they were 4404 last year – the Big Apple is facing the worst flu season since at least 2009. As a consequences of Cuomo’s decision, pharmacists can now give the flu shot to patients as young as six months of age, while before they were not allowed to do that to anyone under 18 years old.

The flu alarm is not limited to New York: 47 out of 50 States of America are dealing with a particularly strong flu outbreak, with 7.3% of the deaths reported in the first week of the year that have been related to influenza infection. The main viral subtype of this year’s flu seems to be the H3N2, which has been associated with more severe seasons in the past.

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0052814