DOVER — New Hampshire is one of the 41 states in the country designated as having “widespread” influenza, according to the national Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Some local hospitals are already feeling the effects.

Wentworth-Douglass Hospital Nursing Supervisor Susan LaPierre reported she has seen an increase in patients stopping by the Dover hospital with signs of the flu, though she said some of them have just been diagnosed with the common cold.

“It seems like it's more but I can't tell for certain,” she said. “Last year it seemed like an incredible amount too.”

LaPierre noted the hospital tracked cases of influenza during the national “swine flu” outbreak in 2009 and 2010 with the influenza strain H1N1, but the hospital has not reached that stage at this point.

According to data available from the week ending on Dec. 29, the CDC reported New Hampshire ILI, or proportion of outpatient visits for influenza-like illness, was fairly low. And according to data from the state Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), approximately 10 percent of all deaths were related to pneumonia and influenza-related deaths during the week ending on Dec. 22, which was below the epidemic threshold of approximately 12 percent.