H1N1 rates down, but many children still positive for virus

It looks like the latest wave of the H1N1 pandemic has loosened its grip a bit on the U.S., though almost 40 percent of U.S. children are testing positive, according to results released by a national testing laboratory.

The report, from Quest Diagnostics, noted that rates of H1N1 testing in the U.S have fallen more than 75 percent since the virus began its second surge in late October. Quest drew this data from about 170,000 de-identified patient specimen tested for H1N1 virus between May 11 and Dec. 9.

Other new data supports Quest's findings. The CDC released a new update last week announcing that 11 states reported widespread H1N1 activity, down from 14 states only a week earlier.

To get more information about the flu:
- read this UPI piece on flu testing
- read this UPI piece on CDC flu reports

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