Flu Deaths Reach New High In San Diego County

SAN DIEGO, CA -- Another 20 people in San Diego County died from the flu last week, bringing the total number of deaths this season to 251, health officials said Wednesday. The unusually high number follows the trend nationwide with roughly 4,000 people dying from the flu each week in the U.S., according to Bloomberg.

San Diego health officials said the age range for those who died was between 1 and 101. Thirty-three (13 percent) of these deaths were of people under 65 years old. In California, more than 150 people under the age of 65 have died from the flu this season.

Bloomberg reported "there were 40,414 deaths in the U.S. during the third week of 2018." The number of deaths is expected to exceed the number of people who died during the swine flu epidemic in 2009 and 2010, Bloomberg said.

“Influenza activity continues to be widespread and, unfortunately, more people are dying from the flu,” said Wilma Wooten, the county public health officer. “People should continue getting vaccinated and taking other preventive measures to prevent getting sick.”

Wooten said the predominant strain circulating this season has been influenza H3N2. This strain of influenza has a more severe impact in the elderly and the very young.

The number of lab-confirmed flu cases had declined for several weeks, but began to increase two weeks ago due in part to a surge in influenza B, which now accounts for nearly half of the cases. Influenza B reports increased to 448 last week from 335 the week before, health officials said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that everyone 6 months and older get vaccinated. The public is also encouraged to:

• Wash hands thoroughly and often
• Use hand sanitizers
• Stay away from sick people
• Clean commonly touched surfaces
• If you are sick, stay home and avoid contact with others

The flu vaccine is available at doctors’ offices and retail pharmacies. If you don’t have medical insurance, you can go to a county public health center to get vaccinated. For a list of locations, go to www.sdiz.org.

--Photo via Shutterstock

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