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GWEN IFILL (Newshour): Now the latest on a flu season that's hitting early and often.
Reports of widespread infection are now coming in from more than 40 states; 2,200 people have been hospitalized. Eighteen children have died.
The blow has landed especially hard in several cities. In Boston today, Mayor Thomas Menino declared a public health emergency. And in the Chicago area, more than a dozen hospitals have been so overwhelmed, they have had to turn patients away.
We're joined by two people following this closely. Dr. Julie Morita is medical director for Chicago's Health Department. And Dr. William Schaffner is chairman of the Department of Preventive Medicine at Vanderbilt University.
Thank you both for joining us.
Dr. Schaffner, is it worse than it has been in the past?
DR. WILLIAM SCHAFFNER, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine: Well, Gwen, last year, we were a little bit spoiled. We had the lowest number of flu cases in the United States for years and years, so flu has come back, and it's come back early and a bit with a vengeance.
It's all over the country, and, as you have said, in some cities, it's causing a lot of illness.
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