. >> john: those states with a high rate of flu include indiana, and janet shamlian is in south bend. janet? >> reporter: good evening. as we made our way around the middle of the country reporting this week, we heard from doctors and nurses who told us that this year's flu season is the hardest-hitting one since before the pandemic. and that was certainly true when we visited louisville. in the emergency room of norton children's hospital, we found the staff treating a surge of pediatric flu patients. >> we have had more than 1800 kids test positive this week, and it is only wednesday. >> reporter: pediatric specialist dr. kris bryant told us last week there were 3,000 flu cases. how does this flu season compare to previous years? >> it's certainly worse. we are seeing extraordinarily high numbers of kids test positive for flu. it's worrisome. >> reporter: across the country, there have been more than 24 million flu cases this season. that's almost 10% more than this time last year. fewer are dying, but flu-related hospital visits are up almost 25%. in kentucky, teachers sanitize cla

janet shamlian is there. >> reporter: in the emergency room at louisville's norton children's hospitaleporter: pediatric specialist dr. kris bryant told us last week there were 3,000 flu cases. >> how does this flu season compare to previous years? >> it's certainly worse. we are seeing extraordinarily high numbers of kids test positive for flu. it's worrisome. >> reporter: across the country there have been more than 24 million flu cases this season. that's almost 10% more than this time last year. fewer are dying, but flu-related hospital visits are up almost 25%. in kentucky teachers sanitize classrooms. schools in jefferson county went to remote learning. and schools in bullitt county a half hour south of louisville have been closed since wednesday to try to stop the spread. the percentage of children getting the flu vaccine is the lowest in six years. the cdc reports this year fewer than half have been vaccinated. >> do you think that vaccine hesitancy plays into some of these low rates? >> i suspect vaccine hesitancy does play a role as well. >> reporter: we also met casey hoover