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 Women wear facial surgical masks in an effort to protect themselves from the influenza virus outbreak while waiting to change trains at a MARTA rail rapid transit system station in Atlanta, Georgia, on Feb. 8, 2018. (Photo: Erik S. Lesser, EPA) 
 
 The most intense nationwide flu outbreak in a decade appears to be losing steam, but it killed an additional 17 children, bringing the total to 114 pediatric deaths, federal health officials reported Friday. 
 
 The flu remained widespread in 45 states in the last full week of February, down from 48 the week before, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. 
 
 Fewer people showed up at doctors' offices with flu-like symptoms. Such visits made up 5% of all outpatient visits, down from 6.4% the week before. 
 
 A few weeks ago, that number was at 7.7%, the highest since the swine flu pandemic of 2009. 
 
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 “It looks like we did peak in early February,” CDC spokeswoman Kristen Nordlund said. “The activity is still high, but it looks like it is starting to come down, especially around the West Coast and some other parts of the country. 
 
 "Still, it’s likely that we have many more weeks of the flu season to go, probably through mid-April,” she said. 
 
 The grim toll on children is higher than that in the past couple of flu seasons but not as high as the final count reported for the severe flu season of 2014-15, when 148 children died. 
 
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 About 56,000 people, mostly older adults, died that year. The CDC does not keep exact counts of adult flu deaths. 
 
 This year's flu vaccines prevent about 36% of flu cases in vaccinated people but work better, at a rate of about 59%, in young children, according to the CDC. The vaccines are less effective, about 25%, at preventing illnesses caused by the dominant virus behind this year's epidemic. 
 
 Most of the children who died this year had not been vaccinated. That was true for child fatalities in previous seasons. 
 
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 For The Second Week, The Flu Epidemic Has Eased 
 
 Enlarge this image toggle caption David Goldman/AP David Goldman/AP 
 
 Flu is still rampant across the United States, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the epidemic has peaked. It eased a bit last week, for the second week in a row. 
 
 Influenza is still claiming lives. The CDC reported 17 flu deaths among children last week, bringing the total pediatric deaths to 114. Adult deaths from the flu are not tracked directly. 
 
 The disease is "widespread" in 45 states and Puerto Rico. But health officials in Oregon, Minnesota, Texas, New Hampshire, Hawaii and the District of Columbia report that they're seeing only regional or local flu activity. 
 
 "That's a very good sign that activity is decreasing. There still is a lot of flu out there," says Dr. Alicia Fry who works in the influenza division at the CDC. 
 
 One gauge of flu activity is reports of "influenza-like illness" as a percentage of all medical visits to a particular set of medical facilities that gather this data. That figure dropped from 7.5 percent of all visits three weeks ago, to 5 percent last week. The baseline figure, in the absence of a flu outbreak, is 2.2 percent. The reports of influenza-like-illness also declined the previous week – a hopeful trend. 
 
 "We could have six more weeks of flu. Now, it could be shorter. We don't know. It's really hard to predict flu, but it could be a month and a half," says Fry. 
 
 Health officials noted a substantial decline in the number of tests positive for Influenza A viruses, which have been dominant this year and less likely to be blocked by the flu vaccine. Influenza B cases also declined and now appear to be responsible for about half of all illnesses in this surveillance network. 
 
 Overall, 9 percent of deaths in the U.S. during the week of February 10 were caused by flu and pneumonia, the CDC reports. By that measure, flu is still considered to be at epidemic levels. 
 
 This flu season is one of the most severe in recent years. Unfortunately, the vaccine was not very effective this year, and that made matters worse. Even so, health officials say it's not too late to get vaccinated. Using past seasons as a guide, flu is likely to be spreading in the weeks to come. 

 FILE - In this Feb. 7, 2018 file photo, a nurse prepares a flu shot at the Salvation Army in Atlanta. The nation’s nasty flu season has been fading for two weeks now, and health officials now feel confident... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this Feb. 7, 2018 file photo, a nurse prepares a flu shot at the Salvation Army in Atlanta. The nation’s nasty flu season has been fading for two weeks now, and health officials now feel confident the worst is over. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the season apparently... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this Feb. 7, 2018 file photo, a nurse prepares a flu shot at the Salvation Army in Atlanta. The nation’s nasty flu season has been fading for two weeks now, and health officials now feel confident the worst is over. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the season apparently... (Associated Press) FILE - In this Feb. 7, 2018 file photo, a nurse prepares a flu shot at the Salvation Army in Atlanta. The nation’s nasty flu season has been fading for two weeks now, and health officials now feel confident... (Associated Press) 
 
 NEW YORK (AP) — The worst of the nation's nasty flu season is finally over. 
 
 The season apparently peaked in early February and has been fading since, health officials said Friday. The number of people going to the doctor with symptoms of the flu has continued to decline. Deaths from the flu or pneumonia are going down, too. 
 
 While the peak may have passed, the season isn't finished yet. Reports of flu remained widespread in 45 states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. 
 
 "The season's not over but we're definitely on the downward trend right now," said Dr. Anne Schuchat, the CDC's acting director. 
 
 Flu usually takes off after Christmas and peaks around February. This season started early and was widespread in many states by December. In early January, it hit what seemed like peak levels — but then continued to surge. 
 
 It had been driven by a kind of flu that tends to put more people in the hospital and cause more deaths, and officials lately are seeing less of that. But another kind that hits children hard has picked up steam. So far this season, health officials say 114 children have died from the flu. 
 
 Making a bad year worse, this year's flu vaccine didn't work very well and health officials are trying to figure out why it did so poorly. 
 
 Flu is a contagious respiratory illness, spread by a virus. It can cause a miserable but relatively mild illness in many people, but a more severe illness in others. In a bad season, there are as many as 56,000 deaths connected to the flu. 
 
 In Friday's report, the CDC said one key measure showed doctor visits last week for fever, cough and other symptoms of the flu dropped again, down to 1 in 20 visits. The number of states reporting heavy patient flu traffic last week dropped to 32. 
 
 Amber Smith, a recruiter for a furniture store chain in Charlotte, North Carolina, thought she didn't have to worry about the flu after a wave of illnesses that hit her company's warehouse in January and February seemed to fade. But she started to feel sick Monday and found out she had the flu. She hadn't gotten a flu shot; her boyfriend did and he hasn't been sick. 
 
 "I feel like my head weighs 20 pounds," said Smith, who tried to go to work Friday, but was sent home after a morning meeting. "But my throat isn't as sore. I feel like the flu is running its course."
– Seventeen children were reported killed by the flu this week, bringing the total this winter to 114, more than the past two flu seasons, USA Today reports. The CDC gave an update on the worst flu season in a decade on Friday. Most of the children who have died this winter had not received the flu vaccine. Health officials say it's still not too late to get vaccinated, according to NPR. While the number of child deaths is alarming, officials say this long flu season is finally on its way out. The flu arrived early, felt like it peaked in January, and then just kept getting worse, the AP reports. “It looks like we did peak in early February,” CDC spokesperson Kristen Nordlund says. “The activity is still high, but it looks like it is starting to come down." This week, flu-related symptoms accounted for only 5% of all doctor visits. That's down from 6.4% last week and 7.7%—the highest level since the 2009 swine flu pandemic—a few weeks ago. Officials say the flu season could stick around through mid-April.