Dr. Winkler Weinberg said it started around Thanksgiving this
year and takes about eight weeks to travel through a community.
Despite talk of greater numbers of flu patients this year,
Weinberg, Keiser Permanente’s chief of infectious diseases —
whose office is in Vinings — said he would be surprised if this
year’s numbers were any higher than other year. “It’s very
consistent from year to year,” he said. “Even in 2009 with the
outbreak of H1N1 [the swine flu], there was the same number of
patients.” Nonetheless, vaccine manufacturers have increased
their estimated production totals for the season, up from 135
million doses to now 145 million doses, according to the DeKalb
County-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The
center reported most of the country has been experiencing “high
levels of influenza-like illnesses,” and it reported 32 flu-
related deaths in metro Atlanta alone within the first three
weeks of January. But Georgia’s most recent influenza-like
illnesses fell in the moderate level,