Flu season gains strength, but may be approaching a peak

The CDC says 38 states had high or very high levels of respiratory illness that included a cough or other symptoms.

Flu season is gaining strength, U.S. health officials said Friday.

Data posted on Friday, that covers the week between the Christmas and New Year holidays, shows 38 states had high or very high levels of respiratory illness that included a cough or other symptoms. The count is up from 31 states the week before.

Flu is likely the most dramatically increasing of these infections, the Centers for Disease Control said Friday.

This flu season as a whole has an average intensity, but Alicia Budd, the team lead on the CDC's influenza National Surveillance and Outbreak Response Team, said "We expect it to be elevated for several more weeks."

Budd said illness reporting around the holidays can be less reliable due to high travel rates, closed schools and people who choose to tough out infections at home.