LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Well being officers say the extreme flu season in Arkansas just isn’t over but and the worst is probably not behind us but.
The warning comes after one other week wherein the Facilities for Illness Management categorized the Pure State within the “very excessive” class for flu exercise.
Kavanaugh Pharmacy proprietor Anne Tempo is seeing the truth of this season firsthand. Whereas many of the sufferers she has examined and prescribed endure from the B pressure, she primarily began with A pressure instances.
The newest report from the Arkansas Division of Well being, which ended Feb. 17, exhibits greater than 1,300 constructive flu checks final week and 7 new deaths, bringing the state's dying toll to 55 up to now. the season. It additionally stories nearly 70 new hospital admissions.
Baptist Well being Director of Infectious Illnesses Dr. Amanda Novak stated greater than half of the flu sufferers she sees are over 65 years previous. A handful are between 30 and 40 years previous.
“We have now extra flu admissions this month than we now have in a very long time,” he stated.
Tempo stated with regards to everybody else exterior of hospital admissions, nobody is protected from the illness proper now.
“We’ve seen youngsters…adults,” Tempo stated. “At this level nobody has been forgiven.”
Novak and Tempo stated they count on Arkansas to be close to its peak and hope instances will start to say no within the subsequent two weeks.
Within the meantime, Tempo stated it's not too late to get a flu shot.
In response to the Division of Well being, about 75% of flu-related deaths this season had been in individuals who had not been vaccinated.