This year's flu season is coming early.  In its weekly press briefing, the CDC reports that flu activity is being reported in all 50 states, with 21 states reporting widespread activity.  Perhaps, a mild summer and early fall are the perfect storm for the coming wave of influenza in the Northern Hemisphere.  The novel H1N1 strain continues to be the dominant strain reported in the US, and it continues to show mild to moderate disease, with general susceptibility to the anti-viral agent Tamiflu.  It continues to spread most widely among children and young adults, with the SouthEast showing the highest rates right now (likely because children there started school before Labor Day).  You have to wonder, though, if there is observer bias.  This year more than any other year, parents and adults will be more likely to make a doctor's visit for flu symptoms, for which they would have usually just stayed at home and let it run its course.  People are nervous about the potential deadliness of the "swine flu,"  yet all reports show that it is no more virulent (or deadly) than the regular flu.  You can read more about this update here.