Flu Cases In New York Doubled Over Previous Week, DOH Says

Confirmed reports of the flu in New York doubled over the past week, making it the eighth week in a row the flu has been reported as widespread, according to the New York State Department of Health.

And it's not just New York; flu activity across the country last week reached its highest level in almost a decade, according to the latest data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

There were 11,683 confirmed reports of the flu in New York during the week of Jan. 27, which is a 50 percent increase over last week. There were about 2,221 people hospitalized as a result of the flu. (Read last week's report here.)

The CDC reports that a total of 14,676 hospitalizations have been reported for the 2017-18 flu season nationwide. The most frequently identified flu virus subtype reported by public health laboratories was influenza A(H3), a particularly aggressive and highly contagious strain.

There has been one confirmed flu-related pediatric death in New York this season, although no deaths were reported in the most recent week, the DOH says. At least 53 pediatric deaths have been reported across the country this season.

One of every 14 visits to the doctors and clinics were for symptoms of the flu. That's the highest level since the swine flu pandemic in 2009.

Last week, 42 states reported high patient traffic for the flu, up from 39. Hospital stays because of the flu were also up.

According to the CDC, the flu is widespread in 48 states while two states — Oregon and Hawaii — do not have widespread flu activity.

The best protection against the flu is vaccination, and health officials have been stressing that it's not too late to get a flu shot. A CDC spokesperson told Patch that as of Jan. 2, 152.1 million doses of the flu vaccine have been distributed. Private manufacturers who produce the vaccine originally predicted that as many as 166 million doses of injectable flu vaccine would be made available for the current flu season.

Vaccine shortages have been reported in some areas as the flu season drags on. The best way to find pharmacies providing the vaccine is to check at Vaccine Finder. The website reminds people to call and check with a vaccine provider location to ensure that the vaccine is available.

A representative for Vaccine Finder said the website does not offer a tool that shows whether the vaccine is available at a particular pharmacy; thus the warning notification on the website.

Feroze Dhanoa and The Associated Press contributed to this report.