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While influenza-related illnesses have begun to spread across the country in recent weeks, health officials say the flu season this year is likely to be milder than last year – but new data show that the number of deaths related to influenza is higher than in previous years.
During the last influenza season, so many people became ill that hospitals overflowed with patients and ran out of medicine. Some experts said the death toll throughout the country during the 2017-2018 season – 79,400 – was the second after the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic.
But California officials said Friday that 119 people have died from the flu this season. According to state data, the approximately 60 deaths occurring among those under 65 years of age are much higher than in other years.
Until this season, health officials did not count deaths from influenza among people over 65 years old. However, in each of the last two years, 23 people under the age of 65 had died of influenza in the state. In 2016, the total was three.
The higher number of deaths could be due to the fact that the flu season peaked earlier this year, officials said. The season, which runs from October to May, usually peaks in February.
More likely, the increase in youth deaths is due to the type of flu that is spreading in California.
According to state data, about 90% of people with HIV in California have contracted swine flu, a kind of flu called H1N1. H1N1 flu tends to be more dangerous for children and young adults, experts say.
In San Diego County, a 32-year-old healthy man died of the flu earlier this month, health officials said this week. He had not been vaccinated.
An unvaccinated 4-year-old from Riverside County has also died of the flu this season.
"Healthy young people should not die of flu," said Dr. Sayone Thihalolipavan, deputy head of public health in San Diego County, in a statement. "If you have not received a flu shot, do it now."
In 2014, the flu virus was predominant for the last time in California. In California, 95 people under 65 died of the flu in late January. At the end of the season, 342 people, including seven children, had died in that state.
Many people have heard of swine flu for the first time during a global pandemic that began in 2009 and killed 12,469 people in the United States. However, the virus is now considered a regular influenza virus that can circulate each season.
The leaders encourage all people over 6 months to be vaccinated. The vaccine takes about two weeks to come into effect. People who get the vaccine and still get the flu usually have less severe symptoms.
Officials say older adults may not be as susceptible to the H1N1 virus as they are immune to the virus in previous influenza seasons.
So far this season, 22 children have died of flu throughout the country, according to US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The flu season of last year killed 185 children in the country, 80% of whom were not vaccinated, according to the CDC.
According to federal officials, between 6 and 7 million people have caught the flu this season, half of whom have sought medical attention for their illness. Up to now, between 69,000 and 84,000 people have been hospitalized for the flu.
To prevent the spread of the disease, the CDC recommends staying home for 24 hours after the fever is over, covering your nose and mouth with a tissue when coughing or sneezing, and washing your hands often.
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