Flu cases rise in second spike of the season in South Carolina, officials say
Cases of the flu across South Carolina are spiking again after a drop in January, according to state public health officials.
The state Department of Health and Environmental Control reported 529 new cases of influenza confirmed by lab tests last week. More than 250 people had to be hospitalized for flu symptoms.
Sixty-eight people across the state have died from influenza-related symptoms, the state said, including four last week.
The Upstate region has been hardest hit with 29 deaths. The Midlands and Low Country regions have each reported 11 deaths, and there have been 17 in the Pee Dee this season, according to DHEC.
Flu cases began dropping off in the beginning of the year, based on reported cases of flu-like symptoms from doctors and hospitals. But cases began to climb again at the end of January.
More than 1,900 people have been hospitalized because of the flu since the season began on Sept. 29, DHEC said. The five-year average for this time of year is about 1,570.
Nationally, public health officials estimate, “so far this season there have been at least 22 million flu illnesses, 210,000 hospitalizations and 12,000 deaths from flu.”
The death rate this year has been low, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “but 78 influenza-associated deaths in children have been reported so far this season.”
