We thought it was just the DCist staff that had been under the weather recently — after all, spending your days in front of the computer screen and your nights at blogger happy hours is not exactly a prescription for robust physical health.

But WTOP reports that we're not the only ones. Prince William County has noticed an increase in absenteeism among its busdrivers, for one thing. And as you can see from this not-actually-that-helpful CDC graphic, Virginia and Maryland are officially experiencing "widespread" flu activity. From the few pixels of pink excerpted above, it looks like D.C. is just mired in "local" flu activity — although in a city of under seventy square miles, we're not sure what flu activity wouldn't count as local. You can find more details at the CDC's weekly flu reports.

Whatever the exact extent of your area's flu problems, it's disappointing to see sickness making a fourth quarter comeback. We thought we had safely escaped cold season (for once) and were looking forward to allergy season, if only for a change of pace. Oh well. On the bright side, sitting in the sun with a glass of iced tea and a bottle of Dayquil doesn't sound half bad.