The flu severity level in the state had increased to “very high,” health officials in Massachusetts said Friday. The increase comes as the percentage of visits to health care facilities for influenza-like illnesses continued to increase and remained higher than the previous two years during the same week, the department of Public Health said in a statement. Flu severity level…

A second wave of flu is hitting the U.S., turning this into one of the nastiest seasons for children in a decade. The number of child deaths and the hospitalization rate for youngsters are the highest seen at this point in any season since the severe flu outbreak of 2009-10, health officials said Friday. And the wave is expected...

An influx of patients reporting flu-like symptoms is overcrowding emergency rooms in Boston and across the region, forcing doctors to issue a plea to the public. Doctors at Brigham and Women’s Hospital said its emergency department has been inundated with patients potentially infected with the flu, which often leads to longer wait times and sometimes forces doctors to treat...

Hospital officials say more people are going to emergency rooms with flu symptoms.

The flu continues to spread across the U.S., with elevated activity in nearly every state. On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported widespread flu in 30 states — mostly on the West Coast, along the southern border, and in the Mid-Atlantic states. The CDC estimates there have been at least 3.7 million flu cases so far this...

Ten people at an Oklahoma care facility for people with intellectual disabilities were hospitalized after they were apparently accidentally injected with what’s believed to be insulin rather than flu shots, authorities said. Emergency responders were called Wednesday afternoon to the Jacquelyn House in Bartlesville, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) north of Tulsa, on a report of an unresponsive person and...

Massachusetts health officials say a teenager has died from an influenza-related illness. The Department of Public Health said the teenage boy, a resident of Middlesex County, has been confirmed as the fourth flu-associated pediatric death of the flu season. A 4-year-old girl from Lowell, a 4-year-old girl from Framingham and a 12-year-old boy from Milford succumbed to the illness in...

Red Sox manager Alex Cora announced Monday when we can expect to see Dustin Pedroia make his spring debut.

Massachusetts health officials say a third child has died as a result of complications from influenza. Officials said the patient was a girl from Middlesex County. Her death was announced Tuesday. It was the third fatality of the year. Earlier this month, officials said a 4-year-old girl from Framingham and a 12-year-old boy from Milford died from the flu. Both...

Massachusetts health officials say a third child has died as a result of complications from influenza. Officials said the patient was a girl from Middlesex County. Her death was announced Tuesday. It was the third fatality of the year. Earlier this month, officials said a 4-year-old girl from Framingham and a 12-year-old boy from Milford died from the flu. Both...

Massachusetts health officials say another child has died as a result of complications from influenza. Massachusetts Department of Public Health officials identified the child as a 4-year-old girl from Framingham. The child died within the past week.

Flu season is upon us and hitting its peak across Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Thursday, the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human services has confirmed the first flu-related death in the Granite State.

A virus could be adding to the seasonal misery brought on by influenza, but it’s not being identified, an infectious disease specialist told NBC News. Adenovirus can cause severe flu-like symptoms, and the U.S. military already vaccinates recruits against two of its 52 strains. But most people don’t get the vaccine and aren’t tested for it at doctor’s offices, according...

We all know this year’s flu season has been severe. But now the Centers for Disease Control says in the U.S., we’ve reached levels that rival the 2009 swine flu pandemic.

Tamiflu is a prescription medication that can ease flu symptoms and stop them from getting worse, and it’s seen shortages this year amid a fierce outbreak that’s killed at least 37 children. But “Today” reports that a family in Indiana fears that Tamiflu’s effects may have led to the suicide of 16-year-old Charlie Harp. A legal guardian of Harp’s told...

The family of an Indiana teen says the drug Tamiflu may have played a role in his suicide. An aunt of Charlie Harp, 16, said Harp was a “happy” child before he took the drug for his influenza.

A healthy 8-year-old boy was diagnosed with the flu. The next day, his mother says, doctors discovered the flu caused a life-changing infection in the boy’s brain.

Cough medications that contain opioids like codeine should not ever be taken by kids and they’ll now need to be labeled to make that clear, the Food and Drug Administration said Thursday. The FDA will also carry bigger warning about their dangers to adults, NBC News reported. The FDA will remind parents that most coughs and colds don’t need any...

There’s a good reason not to skip the flu shot this year: a new study has found that older adults who get the shot every flu season were less likely to die or be hospitalized with severe complications, NBC News reported. People over 65 who got the flu shot every year but were taken to the hospital with influenza were...