--- description: CDC still says people should get a flu vaccine to guard against infection title: The Flu Is Now Widespread in 43 States image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta9be96424e8c6da7/6987783e55a8592538a85145/flu-shot.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Health Care](/tag/health-care/) ## Health Care Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The Flu Is Now Widespread in 43 States by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 5, 2015 9:45 PM CUT  A Walgreens employee holds a flu shot clinic on Dec. 19, 2014 in Oakland, California. A Walgreens employee holds a flu shot clinic on Dec. 19, 2014 in Oakland, California.Justin Sullivan—Getty Images by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 5, 2015 9:45 PM CUT The annual influenza outbreak has reached widespread levels in 43 states – up from 36 states a week ago. New [figures](http://1.usa.gov/173AnpZ "undefined") from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that six more children have died from flu, including three kids in Tennessee, making for 21 pediatric deaths this flu season. Flu activity typically waxes and wanes during the coldest months. While the nation reached an epidemic level of flu last week, the portion of weekly flu-and pneumonia-related deaths – 6.8 percent of all deaths – dipped below the epidemic threshold for the first week of January. Flu generally hits hardest in the very young and the… [Read the rest of the story from our partners at NBC News](http://www.nbcnews.com/health/cold-flu/flu-now-widespread-43-states-cdc-reports-n280001?cid=par-time-article%5F20141002 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3654771/flu-43-states-cdc-report/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3654771/flu-43-states-cdc-report/"},"headline":"The Flu Is Now Widespread in 43 States","datePublished":"2015-01-05T21:45:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T03:18:10.803Z","description":"CDC still says people should get a flu vaccine to guard against infection","url":"https://time.com/3654771/flu-43-states-cdc-report/","keywords":["Health Care","flu","flu shot"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta9be96424e8c6da7/6987783e55a8592538a85145/flu-shot.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"NBC News","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nbc-news/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta9be96424e8c6da7/6987783e55a8592538a85145/flu-shot.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"A Walgreens employee holds a flu shot clinic on Dec. 19, 2014 in Oakland, California.","caption":"A Walgreens employee holds a flu shot clinic on Dec. 19, 2014 in Oakland, California.","creditText":"Justin Sullivan—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/health-care/","name":"Health Care"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3654771/flu-43-states-cdc-report/","name":"The Flu Is Now Widespread in 43 States"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"This Flu Shot Is Not Like the Others","description":"Some people may get a new flu shot that’s made with dog cells instead of chicken eggs","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/1thSi60s/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-10-30T14:53:23.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/1thSi60s.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3654771/flu-43-states-cdc-report/","duration":"PT2M9S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3654771/flu-43-states-cdc-report/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```