California death count rises in harsh flu season

Virus showing up early, strong and in deadly strain hard to match with vaccine

LOS ANGELES— The death toll from influenza in California rose sharply on Friday amid a brutal flu season that has spread across the nation.

State health officials said that 32 people under 65 died last week of the flu, making it the deadliest week this season so far. In total, 74 people under age 65 have died of the flu since October, compared with 14 at the same time last year.

The current flu season is dominated by a strain of Influenza A known as H3N2, which is often a poor match for the influenza vaccine and tends to be deadlier than other strains. National health officials say 2018 is the first year in more than a decade in which the entire country is grappling with high numbers of flu cases at the same time.

“California is facing the same problem that most of the U.S. is facing,” state Department of Public Health director Dr. Karen Smith said this week. “This has been a very early season and a more severe one.”

The flu season typically peaks in February, but thousands of people in California started falling very ill in December.

California officials collect flu death data only on people under 65. So many more people 65 and older die of the flu each year that the deaths under 65 reveal more about the severity of the flu season, they say.

Though the death count increased last week, fewer people appear to be showing up at hospitals recently infected with the flu. State data shows the number of people testing positive for influenza fell last week, suggesting the flu season could be winding down.