The state Health Department has begun publishing county totals in the weekly flu report again, after curtailing the practice when the pandemic hit. The latest table for the week ending last Saturday shows Pennsylvania suffering its largest increase in confirmed flu cases, by about a thousand cases over the previous week. The total cases reported in the week were about 3,300, bringing the total so far in flu season to 8,583.
The state is tracking three strains of flu this year. By far the most prevalent has been Type A, with 7,710 lab-confirmed cases. Type B is second with 866 cases, and Type U has had 7 cases so far. In Indiana County, there have been 49 confirmed flu cases this season. Type A has accounted for 36 of them and the other 13 are Type B.
Across the state, three people have died from the flu. Two of them were age 65 or older. The other was between 50 and 64.
Of course, the cautionary aspect of the report is that these are lab-confirmed cases only. Many people suffer the flu and do not go to the doctor for it. And many medical facilities simply treat cases as the flu without confirming it in a lab, although in the covid era, that may not be as prevalent as it has been in the past.
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