Flu map: These states are now at CDC's highest activity level

(NEXSTAR) – The map of flu activity across the United States continues to darken, both figuratively and literally, as case numbers spike upward in most states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The flu positivity rate from lab tests across the country has jumped week-to-week from 18% to 25%, with documented flu activity especially high some states.

The following 14 states, along with New York City, are now at the CDC's highest tier of influenza activity: Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, South Carolina and Tennessee.

There were four pediatric deaths during the third week of January, pushing the total number of pediatric deaths for this flu season up to 31.

According to the CDC, Influenza A is responsible for the vast majority of cases.

With the winter cold driving many of us indoors where virus transmission is easier, the increase in respiratory illnesses isn't a surprise.

However, Dr. Mattew Kippenhan from Northwestern Medicine says there may be another reason that so many people seem to be falling ill.

“Unfortunately, I think a lot of people have become complacent after COVID and didn’t get their vaccines, so there’s just a higher risk of those people actually becoming ill,” Kippenhan told Nexstar's WGN Radio.

In a Dec. 20 update, the CDC said that vaccination coverage "is lower across most groups of people compared with before the COVID-19 pandemic."

What to know about flu antiviral drugs

Unlike other illnesses, there are medications that can make a case of the flu shorter and less severe.

The only catches are that you'll need a prescription and you'll want to act quickly.

The CDC advises that antiviral drugs work best against the flu when the patients take them within one to two days after they start feeling symptoms.

If taken within that timeframe, drugs like Tamiflu or Relenza can reduce symptoms and shorten the illness by about a day, the CDC says.

If you're lucky enough to have avoided the flu so far, experts recommend most people get the flu vaccine, which can still help even if you do end up catching the virus.

“You have symptoms less, they’re not as severe, you don’t get hospitalized as much and you don’t spread it as much to family members,” Dr. Andrew Jameson, the regional division head for specialty medicine and an infectious disease doctor with Trinity Health in Michigan, told Nexstar's WOOD.

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