Flu Widespread in 41 States
COOPER: Flu season is hitting early and hitting hard. Government health officials say the number of people seeking treatment for the flu has spiked over the month; 41 states are now reporting widespread cases; 18 kids have died so far. Keep in mind, the flu typically kills as many as 50,000 people every year in the United States. Our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, joins me now. I didn't realize it kills that many people. It certainly seems worse than last year's. I know a lot of people have gotten sick. Is it in fact worse than it has been in recent years?</s>DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Looking at this point in time and how the season has transpired so far, it is worse than last year. Last year was considered a relatively mild season. But this is probably as bad as we have seen in 10 years. The question that a lot of people are asking is, is it going to stay bad throughout the entire flu season or is this just sort of an earlier peak? We're seeing a lot more cases than normal this time of year. Is it going to peak earlier and then go down and just be a normal-length flu season? We don't know the answer to that yet.</s>COOPER: How does someone know if they have the flu vs. a regular cold?</s>GUPTA: It's funny because you and I have both experienced this, I know. But the thing with the flu is the symptoms are going to be more severe, but I think it's more than that. When you think about the sore throat, the headache, the chest tightness, the muscle aches, usually, with the flu, it comes on all at once. So, it's like you may be feeling fine on Tuesday. And by Wednesday, everything has just sort of hits you. That's much more likely to be the flu, whereas, with a cold, you can get any of those symptoms that I just described, but they usually come and they go. Some may overlap a little bit, but not that sort of a big push. And with the flu, it is usually longer, about seven days on average.</s>COOPER: Yes, I'm just remembering what you're referring to. I got really sick with the flu in Afghanistan. You -- I think I caught it from you, and you claimed I wasn't sick or something.</s>GUPTA: Yes. It...</s>COOPER: I'm just pointing that out. What was that? It was like...</s>GUPTA: That was swine flu.</s>COOPER: Swine flu, that's right. I had swine flu. And you're like, "No, no, I think you're fine."</s>GUPTA: Yes. It did seem a little out of context. We were in Afghanistan covering the conflict over there, and you came to me looking pretty terrible. I didn't think at that point swine flu had made its way all the way over to that part of the world.</s>COOPER: Yes, it sure had. It had.</s>GUPTA: I know, look, if it makes you feel any better -- I'm not sure that it will -- I was right there with you.</s>COOPER: You were worse off than I was. You were worse off than I was. But you were smart enough to get an IV drip, as I recall.</s>GUPTA: That's right. As you recall.</s>COOPER: But I mean, what about the flu shot? I only got a flu shot last year for the first time in my life. Do they work? Because I've heard you can still get the flu even if you have a flu shot.</s>GUPTA: They do work. And I do encourage people to get a flu shot. I know there's a lot of people watching out there right now that may say, look, it doesn't work. It even made me sick. It doesn't work every time. About -- this year, they're saying about 60 percent effectiveness. It's not 100 percent.</s>COOPER: Better than nothing.</s>GUPTA: Yes. Better than nothing. And there's something else that I want to point out, as well. A lot of people say they get the flu shot, and that makes them get the flu. A couple things to keep in mind. It takes about two weeks after you get the flu shot to have immunity.</s>COOPER: Oh, really?</s>GUPTA: So it's not going to protect you right away. And the other thing -- and this is really interesting, Anderson -- is that when you get a flu shot, you're getting a dead virus, so it can't give you the flu, but what it's doing is activating your immune system. That's what it's supposed to do. It's teaching your immune system to recognize that virus as a problem so when it sees it again, it attacks it. But when your immune system is ramped up like that, you feel kind of cruddy. So it's not that you've got the flu. It's that the flu shot is doing its job. Making your immune system activate.</s>COOPER: All right. I haven't gotten mine yet, but I will now. Sanjay, appreciate it. Thank you. Good advice.</s>GUPTA: Thank you. Take care.</s>COOPER: Let's check on some of the other stories we're following right now. Isha is here with a "360 Bulletin" -- Isha.</s>ISHA SESAY, HLN ANCHOR: Anderson, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton went back to work today, her first day after being sidelined for weeks by an illness -- by a series of health issues including a concussion that led to a blood clot. She met with some of her senior staff and reportedly got a warm welcome back. She also got some gifts, including a football helmet to protect her from another head injury. James Holmes, the Colorado movie theater shooting suspect, was relaxed and seemed detached from it all. He also didn't struggle when he was dragged away by police. Those details revealed today at a preliminary hearing by the first police officer who encountered Holmes. Twenty people were killed in the July 20 shooting rampage at an Aurora movie theater. And in Jersey City, New Jersey, five people were injured when a crowded escalator malfunctioned and started going backwards at a PATH train station. The chaos was caught on video during the morning commute by an eyewitness -- Anderson.</s>COOPER: Isha, thanks very much. Still ahead, outrage over a horrific crime, a sexual attack on a bus by multiple men who attacked a woman and her boyfriend. Now, the woman has died. Five of the men accused in the brutal attack are now facing justice behind closed doors. We'll have the latest from the trial ahead.