“Since the holidays  an explosion in influenza (FLU) throughout the country.  Right now, as hospitals nationwide are “bulging” with influenza patients, the patients most typically sweating it out in backed-up waiting rooms are over 65. This group, he says, is hardest hit by the season’s more severe prevailing strain; they tend to develop the most serious complications of the respiratory virus, including pneumonia.  ”

William Schaffner, M.D., an infectious disease expert and member of the CDC’s national surveillance team.