40 deaths in Pennsylvania attributed to flu this season

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Dick Boyd chats with RN Margie Keyser of Gettysburg Hospital as she administers his flu shot last October at the Littlestown Senior Center. (THE EVENING SUN -- FILE)
STATE COLLEGE - Flu cases are mounting in Pennsylvania, and 22 deaths have been attributed to the illness, state health officials said.

The number of cases could continue to spike because the flu season typically doesn't peak for at least another couple weeks.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health designated flu as now "widespread" throughout the commonwealth. There have been more than 11,000 laboratory-confirmed flu cases in the state since the flu season began in mid-December, with nearly 4,300 of those reported last week alone.

http://www.eveningsun.com/localnews/ci_22348110/22-deaths-pennsylvania-attributed-flu

 

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Re: 40 deaths in Pennsylvania attributed to flu this season

Source: http://www.mcall.com/health/mc-pennsylvania-flu-outbreak-20130115,0,2984853.story

Flu cases rise with 40 confirmed deaths in state
State has had 16,500 influenza cases,1,700 in Lehigh Valley.


By Tim Darragh, Of The Morning Call

8:59 p.m. EST, January 15, 2013

Laboratory-confirmed cases of influenza increased by more than 5,000 in Pennsylvania and an additional 18 people died of flu-related complications in the past week, the state Department of Health reported Tuesday.

The updated reports, for the week that ended Saturday, bring the totals to 40 deaths and 16,511 confirmed flu cases for the season...

...The death report is not complete, either. For example, Lehigh Valley Health Network last week reported that an infant had died of likely flu complications during the most recent reporting period. But the state data do not show any flu deaths in the Lehigh Valley through Saturday. An LVH spokesman said the hospital is still awaiting confirmation that the death was flu-related...