Yen near lows vs dollar, Asian shares ease in subdued trade

TOKYO (Reuters) - The yen hovered near its lows against the dollar and Tokyo stocks jumped closer to a 33-month high on Tuesday after markets took comments from a U.S. official as approval for Japan to pursue anti-deflation policies that weaken the yen.

U.S. Treasury Undersecretary Lael Brainard said on Monday the United States supports Japanese efforts to end deflation, but she noted that the G7 has long been committed to exchange rates determined by market forces, "except in rare circumstances where excess volatility or disorderly movements might warrant cooperation.

"Her (Brainard's) comments gave confidence to the market. It was surprising, and was taken as the Obama administration giving a green light to 'Abenomics'," said Takuya Takahashi, a market analyst at Daiwa Securities.

Japan has faced some overseas criticism that it is intentionally trying to weaken the yen with monetary easing, but talk of a so-called currency war was dialled back ahead of a Group of 20 meeting in Moscow on Friday and Saturday.

G20 officials said on Monday the Group of Seven nations are considering a statement this week reaffirming their commitment to "market-determined" exchange rates.

European Central Bank council member Jens Weidmann also said the euro was not overvalued at current levels.

The dollar slipped 0.3 percent to 94.185 yen after marking its highest level since May 2010 of 94.465 on Monday. The euro eased 0.3 percent to 126.12 yen after rising more than 2 percent on Monday. It hit its highest since April 2010 of 127.71 yen last week.

"I think the yen's weakening is a function of (playing)catch-up," and not Japan resorting to deliberate devaluation of its currency, said Andrew Wilkinson, chief economic strategist at Miller Tabak & Co. in New York. "It's the market's way of saying: 'We're convinced there is a movement afoot to reinflate Japan.'"

The yen is pressured by anticipation that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will endorse a far more dovish Bank of Japan regime when the current leadership's term ends next month, although the BOJ is expected to refrain from taking fresh easing steps when it meets this week.

Share trading was subdued with many regional bourses shut for holidays. Encouraging trade data from China late last week was lending support to sentiment but non-Japan markets lacked momentum as investors awaited key events such as the U.S. president's State of the Union address for trading cues.

European markets are seen inching lower, with the Euro STOXX 50 index futures down 0.1 percent. A 0.2 percent drop in U.S. stock futures also suggested a soft Wall Street start. <.l><.eu><.n/>

The MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan <.miapj0000pus> fell 0.1 percent, with Australian shares closing flat ahead of corporate earnings due this week.

The weaker yen in turn hoisted the Nikkei stock average <.n225> to close 1.9 percent higher on improving earnings prospects for exporters. <.t/>

Trading resumed in Japan and South Korea but markets in Singapore, Hong Kong, mainland China, Malaysia and Taiwan remained closed.

STATE OF UNION ADDRESS

Currency and equities markets were also looking ahead to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address later on Tuesday night, for any signs of a deal to avert automatic spending cuts due to take effect March 1.

"We believe that the G20's take on currency wars, Mr. Obama's upcoming state of the union address, and data on the current condition of the U.S. economy should help markets assess where the global recovery stands and where we are heading," Barclays Capital said in a research report.

U.S. and Chinese data last week lifted the tech-focused Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> to a 12-year closing high and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> to a five-year peak on Friday.

Financial markets showed a muted reaction to the news that North Korea has conducted a nuclear test.

"The test was not something that makes your heart pound as much as a pressing situation between Iran and Israel," said Kaname Gokon, research manager at brokerage Okato Shoji, referring to the threat of possible military action to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

U.S. crude futures edged down 0.1 percent to $96.90 a barrel while Brent steadied around $118.

Spot gold stayed near a one-month low.

(Additional reporting by Ayai Tomisawa, Lisa Twaronite and Osamu Tsukimori in Tokyo; Editing by Chris Gallagher)

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IHT Rendezvous: A Different Kind of Labyrinth in the London Underground

LONDON — The artist Mark Wallinger has a few strings to his bow: he spent 10 days in a bear suit in 2004 in the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin; he won the Turner Prize in 2007; he enjoyed a few days of media admiration/derision in 2009 when he proposed a 50-meter white horse as a public art project in Ebbsfleet in Kent.

On Thursday, Mr. Wallinger presented his newest work: a commission from the London Underground, for which he has created 270 individual panels — one for every Tube station — showing a labyrinth design in black on white square enamel panels. A small red cross marks a point of entry, and each panel is individually numbered, according to the order used by the winner of the Tube Challenge, an eccentric affair in which people compete to pass through every Tube stop on the network in the shortest possible time. (The current record is 16 hours, 29 minutes and 59 seconds.)

The Underground has long had a tradition of commissioning art. Its headquarters in St. James’s Park boasts reliefs by Henry Moore and Jacob Epstein among others, and its Art on the Underground program has shown admirable eclecticism in its choice of artists for commissioned posters, map brochures and in-station work. Mr. Wallinger’s Labyrinth project is part of Art on the Underground’s celebration, this year, of the Tube’s 150th anniversary.

“Something like 4 million people every day have an opportunity to encounter the art works,” said Tamsin Dillon, the head of Art on the Underground, in a statement marking the official opening of the project.

On the basis of visits, on Friday morning, to 4 of the 10 Tube stations at which the panels were displayed, and the remaining 260 stations will get theirs over the next few months, it seems clear that opportunity is one thing, actual encounters are another.

At Baker Street station (No. 58), my first stop, a friendly Tube employee went to find out where the panel was located and came to look at it with me. It was next to the Marylebone Road exit, near a few public phones. In and out streamed the passengers; no one except the two of us seemed to notice the new artwork. “Nice,” he said cautiously.

Similar indifference pertained at Oxford Circus (no. 60), Victoria (no. 103) and Green Park (no. 232), where a man stood consulting his cell phone right next to the panel without noticing it was there.

While this may be a bit discouraging for Mr. Wallinger and Ms. Dillon, there was something rather nice about seeking out the unobtrusively placed artworks, and a slightly Harry Potter-ish aspect to being the only person who could apparently see them as the rest of the world wandered by. Looking for the panels may not be the journey that Mr. Wallinger had in mind (unlike a maze, the labyrinth allows a straightforward passage between entrance and exit, and presumably symbolizes each passenger’s trajectory), but it’s a pleasant diversion in the hurly-burly of commuting. I see a Labyrinth Challenge coming up.

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How'd They Make Carrie Underwood's Glowing Gown?

Stylewatch
Style News Now

02/11/2013 at 12:25 AM ET

Kevork Djansezian/Getty; John Shearer/Invision/AP (2)

We can’t say we were surprised to see that Carrie Underwood had ditched her form-fitting Roberto Cavalli number for a princess-y silver gown to perform her song “Blown Away” at the Grammys Sunday night. When glowing paisley details began to unscroll across her full skirt, however? We definitely didn’t see that coming.

“We wanted it to be artful and dramatic,” Underwood told reporters backstage. “I just like to stand still and sing sometimes, so this seemed like the best way I could do that and still create something visually attention-capturing.” On the technology behind it, she was a little more tight-lipped, saying “I guess I probably shouldn’t tell my secret, should I?” — but luckily, we’ve already got the inside info.

To perform the song that won her best solo country performance, the superstar donned a custom Theia gown designed specifically for the vivid light show. The line’s creative director Don O’Neill sourced fabric for the 4 feet 5 inches-wide skirt that had to be approved by both Underwood’s stylist, Trish Townsend, as well as the video team creating the special effects.

With only three days to create the gown, O’Neill’s team worked around the clock, stitching together 10 yards of Duchesse satin, 100 yards of tulle and crinoline and thousands of Swarovski crystals onto the bodice. Meanwhile, the production team created the effects that were projected onto her gown, including sparkling stars, rose petals and butterflies.

And was all that work worth it? Judging by your overwhelmingly positive reactions on Twitter, absolutely. And O’Neill was thrilled with the result too, especially because he took the line’s name from the Greek goddess of light. “There couldn’t be a more perfect opportunity to fuse light in a literal sense with one of my gowns,” he says in a statement, “and have it showcased on a national stage by Carrie Underwood, the first celebrity to wear a Theia dress four years ago when we launched.”

Tell us: What did you think of Underwood’s high-tech couture?

–Alex Apatoff

PHOTOS: SEE MORE GRAMMY RISK-TAKERS!

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What heals traumatized kids? Answers are lacking

CHICAGO (AP) — Shootings and other traumatic events involving children are not rare events, but there's a startling lack of scientific evidence on the best ways to help young survivors and witnesses heal, a government-funded analysis found.

School-based counseling treatments showed the most promise, but there's no hard proof that anxiety drugs or other medication work and far more research is needed to provide solid answers, say the authors who reviewed 25 studies. Their report was sponsored by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

According to research cited in the report, about two-thirds of U.S. children and teens younger than 18 will experience at least one traumatic event, including shootings and other violence, car crashes and weather disasters. That includes survivors and witnesses of trauma. Most will not suffer any long-term psychological problems, but about 13 percent will develop symptoms of post-traumatic stress, including anxiety, behavior difficulties and other problems related to the event.

The report's conclusions don't mean that no treatment works. It's just that no one knows which treatments are best, or if certain ones work better for some children but not others.

"Our findings serve as a call to action," the researchers wrote in their analysis, published online Monday by the journal Pediatrics.

"This is a very important topic, just in light of recent events," said lead author Valerie Forman-Hoffman, a researcher at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

She has two young children and said the results suggest that it's likely one of them will experience some kind of trauma before reaching adulthood. "As a parent I want to know what works best," the researcher said.

Besides the December massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, other recent tragedies involving young survivors or witnesses include the fatal shooting last month of a 15-year-old Chicago girl gunned down in front of a group of friends; Superstorm Sandy in October; and the 2011 Joplin, Mo., tornado, whose survivors include students whose high school was destroyed.

Some may do fine with no treatment; others will need some sort of counseling to help them cope.

Studying which treatments are most effective is difficult because so many things affect how a child or teen will fare emotionally after a traumatic event, said Dr. Denise Dowd, an emergency physician and research director at Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics in Kansas City, Mo., who wrote a Pediatrics editorial.

One of the most important factors is how the child's parents handle the aftermath, Dowd said.

"If the parent is freaking out" and has difficulty controlling emotions, kids will have a tougher time dealing with trauma. Traumatized kids need to feel like they're in a safe and stable environment, and if their parents have trouble coping, "it's going to be very difficult for the kid," she said.

The researchers analyzed 25 studies of treatments that included anti-anxiety and depression drugs, school-based counseling, and various types of psychotherapy. The strongest evidence favored school-based treatments involving cognitive behavior therapy, which helps patients find ways to cope with disturbing thoughts and emotions, sometimes including talking repeatedly about their trauma.

This treatment worked better than nothing, but more research is needed comparing it with alternatives, the report says.

"We really don't have a gold standard treatment right now," said William Copeland, a psychologist and researcher at Duke University Medical Center who was not involved in the report. A lot of doctors and therapists may be "patching together a little bit of this and a little bit of that, and that might not add up to the most effective treatment for any given child," he said.

___

Online:

Pediatrics: http://www.pediatrics.org

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Square scandal highlights growing pains at tech start-ups

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - When Square Chief Operating Officer Keith Rabois left his job last month, citing legal threats from a young colleague with whom he had a two-year relationship, he threw a spotlight on the risks associated with the freewheeling startup culture that many entrepreneurs cherish.

Startups often thrive on a lack of rules and boundaries. But experts say that as they make the transition from a handful of people in a room to sizeable businesses, the hazards of operating without manual - including lawsuits, reputational hits, and waning employee morale - grow exponentially.

Longtime employees sometimes chafe at the arrival of human resources professionals, codes of conduct and other policies that they fear will step on the company's culture. Yet entrepreneurs and start-up investors say they ultimately have little choice.

Take Facebook Inc, which displayed murals of naked women, some riding dogs, in the Palo Alto offices it leased as a small company in 2005. As proud as some of the early employees were of them — one was painted by the then-girlfriend of Facebook impresario and serial entrepreneur Sean Parker — they got painted over shortly after venture-capital firm Accel Partners invested in the company. Facebook had no immediate comment.

About a year into the life of online-ad tracking startup DoubleVerify, an employee gave a presentation about how advertising fraud takes place. Many in the room got a rude awakening when a slide popped up showing an example of an ad where it shouldn't be: next to a particularly raunchy image on a pornography site.

"That was the first time we realized, ‘We gotta get a little more institutionalized," recalls founder Oren Netzer. Today, the company has policies concerning naked images. The same presentation would use a less controversial example, or obscure anything racy.

Alcohol is another dicey topic. "We used to have these new employee hazing ceremonies," said Dheeraj Pandey, chief executive of virtualization company Nutanix, largely involving knocking back tequila shots with chili peppers. But once the company hit about 100 employees, some new hires pushed back and he started considering the potential for liability.

"It just faded away about four, five months ago," he said about the hazing. Potential concerns run the gamut from some employees feeling excluded if they don't drink to incidents that sometimes accompany drunken behavior.

At 250-person social-media management company Hootsuite, "I somewhat infamously have said I never wanted to work at a company with an HR department," says founder Ryan Holmes.

"That's coming back to bite me a little bit now."

MISSION STATEMENTS, HR FLUFF

A year ago, Holmes made his executive assistant the director of human resources. That type of promote-from-within strategy for HR is commonplace, startups say.

A few months into her role, the new HR director told Holmes the company needed a mission statement. "I said, ‘Oh my God, this is HR fluff,'" Holmes remembers. But shortly afterward, when he overheard new hires discussing beliefs he thought were out of step with Hootsuite's ethos — he says he cannot recall the details — he realized she was right.

But Holmes says he is resisting conforming on other levels. Hootsuite employees attend teambuilding trips, including a recent stay at a hot-springs resort. That is the type of event big companies cut out — Google Inc halted its famous all-employee trips in 2009 - often because of the potential for various kinds of legal liability and cost.

Holmes says he might have to rethink his overnight trips if the company ever goes public, but for now, he plans to keep going. "We think it's very valuable," he says.

At Nutanix, Pandey decided last summer's annual whitewater rafting trip on the Sacramento River would be the last. "We used to go through some rough rapids, and had a couple of close shaves," he said. "A couple of the guys aren't good swimmers."

Part of the philosophy is that young companies want to encourage a "think different" attitude, employees say.

"Start-ups by design want to differentiate themselves from the large companies like the HPs that have very thick employee handbooks," said Brian Samson, chief executive of HR for Startups, referring to computer company Hewlett Packard Co.

Start-ups often deal with the inevitable by aiming for a careful, light-footed approach to new policies.

"I've tried to make sure we don't talk about rules," says Evan Wittenberg, HR head at cloud-content firm Box. "The language around this really matters. These are guidelines."

Still, there are tensions as the company, which now employs around 700 and is considered a likely prospect for a 2013 initial public offering, grows. Cecilia Wong, people manager at Box, cites the daylong orientation process for new employees.

"I've had some managers ask, ‘Why's it a full day? On my first day, it was just an hour, then I could hit the ground running,'" she says. She believes the full day is important for explaining the company culture, business and logistics issues.

The consequences of neglecting HR policy and other big-company practices can be dire.

Rabois said he resigned from his post after an ex-boyfriend that he recommended for a job at Square threatened to sue for sexual harassment. A Square spokesman declined to say what kind of HR policies, if any, the company has in place, and he declined to comment on any issue related to the relationship that led to Rabois' resignation. Square had about 30 employees when Rabois joined and now has about 400.

Many large organizations - not just companies, but nonprofits and government agencies - have firm policies about intra-office romances, and often prohibit them if one party has any kind of supervisory authority over the other.

"You can be open to liability if the relationship goes sour, and you have a person in a position of power over the other person," said San Francisco employment attorney Therese Lawless. "Any actions of that person in power can be deemed to be retaliatory."

In addition, it can create a morale issue if other employees believe the more junior employee in an ongoing relationship is receiving favorable treatment, she said.

(Reporting By Sarah McBride; Editing by Jonathan Weber and Leslie Gevirtz)

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IHT Rendezvous: Hungry Enough to Eat a Horse?

LONDON — As new revelations emerged in the great horse meat scandal gripping the European food industry, there was no indication it would dim the enthusiasm of Continental foodies for their favorite equine delicacies.

Aldi, a cut-price supermarket chain, was the latest retailer to take action, announcing late on Friday that it had removed spaghetti bolognese and beef lasagne from stores in Britain and Ireland after samples were found to contain up to 100 percent horse meat.

In France, meanwhile, fraud inspectors were attempting to track down the origin of the meat, supplied by Comigel, a French supplier, but possibly originating from as far afield as Romania.

Government officials in Britain, who were on Saturday meeting food retailers for crisis talks, have assured consumers there is nothing intrinsically unsafe about eating horse meat.

But, as my colleagues Stephen Castle and Douglas Dalby write, “Few things divide British eating habits from those of continental Europe as much as a distaste for consuming horse meat.”

In many parts of Europe, from Iceland to Italy, gourmets will happily tuck into horse and proclaim its superiority over the humble beef steak.

France’s C4N news Web site took a poke at the fastidious British by asking unwitting consumers of the contaminated products: “Well, was it good or not?”

Umberto Bacchi, writing at International Business Times of the joy of horse tartare, said the scandal would baffle food lovers in other parts of the world, from Italy to Japan.

“As my father comes from Parma, I have eaten my share of horse meat from an early age,” Mr. Bacchi told his readers. “My late grandmother’s fried horse meatballs were a huge hit with the family.”

He went on to extol the virtues of horse meat as high in iron and often recommended to pregnant women, children and the anemic.

“Above all else, however, it is tasty and tender, particularly when cooked for a short time. Hence, the preference for rare steaks or tartare preparations.”

In Belgium, discerning diners delight in having their fries cooked in horse fat, while some Austrians swear by the benefits of horse meat in their dumplings.

Despite the taboo on horse meat that exists in the English-speaking world, the more inquisitive Anglo foodies might at least be tempted to try it the next time they venture to the Continent.

But beware. The esoteric tastes of some Europeans don’t stop at horse. A Swiss newspaper revealed in December that many people in Switzerland still regularly eat dogs and cats.

Apparently it’s perfectly legal and the most popular breed of dog for eating is said to be a close relative of the Rottweiler.

“There’s nothing odd about it”, said one Swiss farmer. “Meat is meat.”

Is he right? The meat-eaters among us happily consume cows, sheep or pigs. So what’s wrong with horse, or even dog? Tell us what you think. And, if you’re a culinary adventurist, where would you draw the line?

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Tiger Woods & Lindsey Vonn Are 'Spending More Time' Together: Source

Buzz

By Steve Helling

02/09/2013 at 06:00 PM EST

Tiger Woods and Lindsey Vonn

Mick Tsikas/Reuters/Landov; Luis Guerra/Ramey

It was quite the gesture.

After Lindsey Vonn suffered a devastating injury during the Alpine World Championships in Austria, she got a bit of help from Tiger Woods. Walking on crutches, Vonn – who tore two ligaments in her right knee and fractured her shin when she crashed on Tuesday ­– boarded Woods's private jet to return home.

Is it a sign that the rumored relationship between Woods and Vonn is heating up?

"Tiger and Lindsey have been friends for a while, and nothing started out romantically at all," a source tells PEOPLE. "But they really have a lot in common and got closer and closer. He still refers to her as 'my very good friend,' but he's been spending more and more time talking to her – and talking about her."

Last month, Vonn's reps kept mum about the rumored relationship, telling PEOPLE that her "focus is solely on competing and on defending her titles and thus she will not participate in any speculation surrounding her personal life at this time."

But the source close to Woods tells PEOPLE that Woods, 37, and Vonn. 28, talk and text frequently.

"Tiger really does want a woman who he can have good conversations with," he says. "He wants shared interests and outlooks. He is finding that with [Lindsey]."

Woods made international headlines in 2009 when he was linked to dozens of women while still married to his ex-wife, Elin Nordegren.

Since then, he has dated sporadically, but struggled to find someone who wanted a relationship for the right reasons.

"She's not freaked out by his past, and that's really appealing to him," says the source. "He really does deserve to be happy. He has been flogging himself for three years, and it's good to see him moving forward."

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India Executes Man Tied to 2001 Attack on Parliament

MUMBAI - India on Saturday on Saturday hanged a man who was convicted of an attack on India’s Parliament in 2001 that killed nine people.

The hanging of Afzal Guru, a 43-year-old militant with the group Jaish-e-Mohammad, comes more than a decade after the Dec. 13, 2001, suicide attack on India’s parliament in which five gunmen opened fire, killing nine people, including security officials and one journalist. The execution drew protests from human rights groups concerned about the growing use of capital punishment in such cases.

Mr. Guru was convicted of conspiracy in the plot and sentenced to death by a special court in 2002. In 2004, the Supreme Court of India upheld the call for death sentence.

After the execution, clashes broke out in Mr. Guru’s hometown of Sopore, and police and paramilitary units were called to the scene to restore order.Days before the execution, President Pranab Mukherjee had rejected a mercy plea by Mr. Guru’s wife, according to reports from the Press Trust of India, paving the way for Mr. Guru’s hanging in the Tihar Jail complex, officials said.

Mr. Guru was originally from Sopore, in the northern part of the Kashmir. The clashes following his execution came despite the fact that in the hours following the hanging the Kashmir valley was placed under strict curfew in the anticipation of trouble from separatist leaders, according to reports. Authorities in the Srinagar asked citizens to remain indoors. They also closed the national highway for one day.

Omar Abdullah, the Jammu and Kashmir chief minister, appealed for peace and calm.

“I understand there is certain degree of angst and there are some people who would like to take advantage of the situation,” Mr. Abdullah said. “I appeal to the people to allow us to get through this with peace and not to restore to violent protests.”

Congress Party officials said that the execution was a sign that India would not tolerate acts of terror.

“We have sent a message to the world that we cannot tolerate terrorism at any cost. Anybody committing any acts of terror will be punished,” said Rashid Alvi, a Congress Party spokesman. “People of our country and government have zero tolerance for terrorism.”

But the opposition Bharatiya Janta Party criticized the government’s delay in carrying out the execution.

“The attack on the Indian Parliament happened in 2001, that is 12 years ago, which was an attack on India,” said Ravi Shankar Prasad, the Bharatiya Janta Party spokesman.

On Nov. 21, 2012, India hanged Ajmal Kasab, the sole surviving gunman from the November 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai, ending an eight-year moratorium on the death penalty and drawing criticism from rights groups, which they reiterated Saturday.

“The hanging of Afzal Guru, following closely behind the hanging of Ajmal Kasab in November, shows a very worrying trend by the Indian government,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director for Human Rights Watch. “Human Rights Watch opposes the death penalty in all circumstances as an inherently irreversible, inhumane punishment.”

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Minka Kelly: 'I'm Not Worthy' of Acting with Oprah

By Jennifer Cress

02/08/2013 at 07:40 PM EST

Minka Kelly as Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

Pacific Coast News

It's intimidating enough to play Jackie O, but Minka Kelly felt even more pressure to perform when she found out who was joining the cast of her latest film, The Butler.

"I'm not worthy. I feel so lucky and grateful. I was like, 'What am I doing here?!' " Kelly tells PEOPLE of starring alongside Robin Williams, Forest Whitaker, John Cusack, Vanessa Redgrave, Jane Fonda and more in the upcoming film, which tells the story of a butler who served eight presidents.

The movie also features another major star: the one and only Oprah Winfrey. "I didn't get to meet Oprah because our shooting schedules were different, but she's a pretty loved lady," Kelly says. "I have yet to hear a bad thing about her!"

Kelly found that the most difficult part of playing Jackie Kennedy was nailing the former first lady's distinct accent. "I think she spoke in a way she thought she should speak, so getting that down was hard. There's a musicality and rhythm to the way she speaks," Kelly explains. "I went to sleep listening to her."

Another tough task? Slipping into the retro costumes. "My body is so different from her because I have curves, so fitting into those vintage clothes was actually really hard," she shares. "Also it was hot – and there was a lot of wool!"

Jennifer Graylock / Getty

But Kelly had no issue slipping into the stunning Oscar de la Renta gown (left) she strutted down the runway in at the Red Dress Collection fashion show in N.Y.C. on Wednesday night. The actress walked for the second year in a row in honor of The Heart Truth campaign, which encourages women to monitor their heart health.

For the month of February, Diet Coke will donate $1 for every person who uploads a heart-inspired photo to Twitter or Instagram using the hashtag #showyourheart. Visit to dietcoke.com/showyourheart for more information.

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After early start, worst of flu season may be over

NEW YORK (AP) — The worst of the flu season appears to be over.

The number of states reporting intense or widespread illnesses dropped again last week, and in a few states there was very little flu going around, U.S. health officials said Friday.

The season started earlier than normal, first in the Southeast and then spreading. But now, by some measures, flu activity has been ebbing for at least four weeks in much of the country. Flu and pneumonia deaths also dropped the last two weeks, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.

"It's likely that the worst of the current flu season is over," CDC spokesman Tom Skinner said.

But flu is hard to predict, he and others stressed, and there have been spikes late in the season in the past.

For now, states like Georgia and New York — where doctor's offices were jammed a few weeks ago — are reporting low flu activity. The hot spots are now the West Coast and the Southwest.

Among the places that have seen a drop: Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest in Allentown, Pa., which put up a tent outside its emergency room last month to help deal with the steady stream of patients. There were about 100 patients each day back then. Now it's down to 25 and the hospital may pack up its tent next week, said Terry Burger, director of infection control and prevention for the hospital.

"There's no question that we're seeing a decline," she said.

In early December, CDC officials announced flu season had arrived, a month earlier than usual. They were worried, saying it had been nine years since a winter flu season started like this one. That was 2003-04 — one of the deadliest seasons in the past 35 years, with more than 48,000 deaths.

Like this year, the major flu strain was one that tends to make people sicker, especially the elderly, who are most vulnerable to flu and its complications

But back then, that year's flu vaccine wasn't made to protect against that bug, and fewer people got flu shots. The vaccine is reformulated almost every year, and the CDC has said this year's vaccine is a good match to the types that are circulating. A preliminary CDC study showed it is about 60 percent effective, which is close to the average.

So far, the season has been labeled moderately severe.

Like others, Lehigh Valley's Burger was cautious about making predictions. "I'm not certain we're completely out of the woods," with more wintry weather ahead and people likely to be packed indoors where flu can spread around, she said.

The government does not keep a running tally of flu-related deaths in adults, but has received reports of 59 deaths in children. The most — nine — were in Texas, where flu activity was still high last week. Roughly 100 children die in an average flu season, the CDC says

On average, about 24,000 Americans die each flu season, according to the CDC.

According to the CDC report, the number of states with intense activity is down to 19, from 24 the previous week, and flu is widespread in 38 states, down from 42.

Flu is now minimal in Florida, Kentucky, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

___

Online:

CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/

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