Sixteen people have died of influenza so far this season in Minnesota, a number that puts the state about on track with the mortality rate this time last year and far lower than during the 2017-18 season, the Minnesota Department of Health said Thursday in its weekly flu report.
The report, for the week ended Saturday, described the current geographic scope of the flu as "widespread" but showed deaths generally about the same level as death tolls at this point last year. Hospitalizations were down for the week, at 171 compared with 193 the week before. So far this season, 753 people have been hospitalized in Minnesota for influenza.
No pediatric deaths have been reported this season — a key barometer of a flu season's severity — compared with one pediatric death in the 2018-19 flu season, which claimed 94 adult lives.
In 2017-18, 440 Minnesotans died of the flu, among them six children, according to the Health Department. In 2016-17, 273 people died, among them two children.
The Health Department reported nine new school outbreaks last week, up from zero the previous week, when most schools were on holiday break. That compares with a spike in school outbreaks to 167 in the second to last week in December 2019.
The agency reported six new outbreaks last week at long-term care facilities, up from zero the previous week and the highest so far this season.
While the late December spike in school outbreaks was the biggest in five years, outbreaks at long-term care facilities are similar to last year's numbers.
Typical flu-like symptoms include fever, body aches, chills and coughing, as well as general upper respiratory unpleasantness.
