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Flu outbreak holding its grip on the nation, new data shows

The government's latest flu report shows it's gotten worse - and there are weeks of suffering ahead.

Is a universal flu vaccine the answer?

With flu cases skyrocketing across the country, Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) met at Massachusetts General Hospital Friday morning to call for $1 billion federal investment in research to develop a universal flu vaccine.

MGH has already seen eleven deaths and 150 hospitalizations related to the flu this season.

"We really can't overstate this threat. We're feeling the strain here, our staff has historically risen to the challenge and continue to fight everyday to keep patients safe and it has tested our resiliency," said Dr. O’Neil Britton, Chief Medical Officer, MGH.

The hospital saw a 250 percent increase in flu cases over last January and is bracing for February - which is typically the worst month for the flu.

Dr. David Hooper - who leads the Infection Control Unit of MGH - says 90 staffers have fallen ill to the flu.

"Fortunately we have been able to, with current staffing patterns and backup patterns, to have adequate coverage," said Hooper.

But the threat is nowhere near over.

"Every single state in the continental U.S. is affected, but not just affected, but affected really badly," said Dr. Ali Raja, Vice Chair MGH ER Medicine.

So badly affected that some pharmacies are seeing a shortage of Tamiflu.

One of every 14 visits to doctors and clinics were for symptoms of the flu. That's the highest level since the swine flu pandemic in 2009. Last week, 42 states reported high patient traffic for the flu, up from 39.

Season            Cases               Hospitalizations         Deaths

2012-13             914                   289                               7
2013-14             744                   290                               15
2014-15             800                   338                               11
2015-16             515                   177                               12
2016-17             989                   324                               19
2017-18(ytd)      581                   170                               11        

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tally shows hospitalization rates surged last week to surpass the nasty flu season of the winter of 2014-2015, when the vaccine was a poor match to the main flu bug.

Markey is calling for a $200 million annual investment over the next five years. He promised to introduce legislation next week that would fund research for a universal flu vaccine - or one that would cover multiple strains and keep you from needing yearly shots.

Doctors say new research is promising, but more investment is needed.

Markey says the flu costs the nation $10.4 billion in direct medical costs annually and $87 billion in total economic burden.

At Winchester Hospital, visitation rules have been adjusted to help keep the virus from spreading to patients.

No children under 13 are allowed to visit, neither are people showing flu symptoms like a fever or a cough.

It's unclear how long a development of a universal vaccine would take. For now, doctors recommend getting a flu shot if you haven't yet - because some protection is better than none.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report