Visits to emergency rooms by people with respiratory illnesses have skyrocketed in December, and the flu appears to be the top culprit, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and prevention classifies flu levels as “very high” in Alabama right now.
South Carolina, Louisiana, Alabama, New Mexico and New York City had the highest rates of flu-like activity in the country for the week ending on Dec. 16, according to the CDC. Flu activity rates were high or very high in most of the South and western United States that week.