It’s been a really rough flu season, both nationally and locally. But we’re approaching the season’s end.
MUNCIE, Ind. — The flu season this time around has been rough, even locally. And the statistics prove it.
Data from the middle of last month foreshadowed local hospital flu cases to finish at four times the numbers from last year. After January’s end, officials confirm they just about did that.
IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital reports 249 confirmed influenza cases in January 2018, just 11 shy of quadrupling January 2017’s 65 cases.
IU Health BMH spokesperson Dawn Fluhler said the hospital follows guidelines from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in making the call when flu season is officially over. Right now, that’s Oct. 1 — March 31, but confirmed influenza cases do occur before and after those dates, and CDC monitors the flu all year.
In the latest weekly influenza report from the Indiana State Department of Health, 136 people in the state have died this season, with 13 confirmed deaths in Marion County and nine in Allen and Hamilton counties.
Americans have been hospitalized for the flu at a rate of 51.4 per 100,000, the highest rate since CDC began keeping comparable statistics in 2010. Nationally, 16 children reportedly died in the last week of January, the most to die in a single week since 2014-2015, bumping the total child deaths this season to 53.
The Muncie hospital’s flu-related visitor restriction is still temporarily in place. Fluhler said primary care providers encourage using preventative measures to avoid getting sick.
«Hand hygiene is essential during flu season, as is practicing cough and sneeze etiquette, avoiding people who are sick and staying home if you feel sick,» Fluhler said.
She adds that those who have flu symptoms — such as fever, cough, chills or muscle aches — should call their primary care doctor’s office for an appointment. Those without a primary care provider can call 1-888-IUHEALTH. Fluhler said same-day appointments are often available, as is the emergency department.
