The number of influenza cases in Pennsylvania continues to slow down, but Indiana County’s totals are increasing at a slightly quicker pace.
Another 1534 cases of flu were reported across the state for the seven-day period that ended on January 28th, bringing the state wide total to 176,498 cases of flu reported in Pennsylvania. 172,039 cases were classified as Type A flu, while 4233 cases are type B and 226 were unclassified. Last week, the jump in the number of flu cases was only 2,405, meaning the pace of new flu cases is slowing down. While flu activity in the state and nation was considered mild, the Department of Health has not yet called the flu season “over” as there is still the possibility of a late-season spike in numbers. The number of flu related deaths did increase by 17 to 101 deaths in the state for this season.
The number of total cases for the season in Indiana County is now at 1014, an increase of 21 cases from the previous week. The week before, there were only 11 new cases reported. 12 cases were Type A flu, while nine new cases of type B flu were reported, bringing the totals to 922 and 92 respectively.
These numbers represent the number of laboratory-confirmed flu cases. There may be more but are not included in the data as people either treat themselves or a doctor diagnoses the symptoms and doesn’t administer a full flu test.
