The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the most significant increase in reported U.S. activity came at the end of June, months after the initial scare. U.S. deaths jumped 34 percent to 170 in just the past week.
"We don't have any evidence that it's mutated yet, but I'm concerned the mutation may be taking place. The children seem to me to be getting much more sicker than they used to be one or two months ago," said Dr. Norris Payne, a Houston pediatrician.
He's seeing three or four new cases of swine flu each day. Dr. Payne is the pediatrician for FOX 26 anchor Melissa Wilson's two year old son. Melissa's son has been diagnosed with swine flu.
Over the weekend, she says, "He was belligerent. He would not stop crying." His fever had soared to 105 degrees.
"Flu season is over, but this is the first time in 30 years I've seen flu in the summer," said Dr. Payne.
For now, the antiviral tamiflu still seems to be working.
Melissa says, "If you have a child with a fever in the middle of summer, that's odd. I would get help immediately."
Dr. Payne believes the cases he's seeing could be just the tip of the iceberg. The CDC estimates more than a million Americans have been infected with the virus, though many probably had a mild illness.
A vaccine is still being developed but could become available sometime in the fall.
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