Flu death toll rises as flu season continues to hit Delaware

Delaware's flu death toll has increased to 18 people as the state continues to face one of the worst flu seasons in recent years, state health officials said Monday. 

Six New Castle County residents died from the flu last week, health officials said. Their ages ranged from 44 to 89 years old, and all but one person had underlying health conditions. None of them got their flu shot this year. 

The deaths of two Kent County residents who died from the flu earlier this winter were recently reported to the state. A 66-year-old man died in January and a 71-year-old woman died earlier this month. Both had health conditions and neither one had been vaccinated. 

This highest number of deaths in recorded Delaware history occurred during the 2014-2015 flu season when 28 people died from the flu, health officials said. 

From Feb. 4 to Feb. 10, the state confirmed 1,268 cases of the flu to bring the total number of confirmed cases to 4,235. The total number of confirmed flu cases last year was 4,590 — the highest number of cases since the state began recording it in 2004.

Doctors say this year's flu season is bad for several reasons: Both influenza A and B strains are circulating at the same time, when one usually dominates early in the season with the other comes later in the spring. Flu vaccines are also less effective than expected.

And one strain of the flu, H3N2, is particularly virulent, making people sicker and sometimes causing an intense reaction from the body's immune system, during which the lungs can become inflamed and airways can be blocked by mucus and more.

This year's flu season is hitting Delaware hospitals hard. They are carefully doling out antiviral drug Tamiflu and judiciously using IV bags to rehydrate patients because of shortages. They are also asking people to not visit patients at the hospital.

Doctors recommend people stay home from work if they're experiencing flu-like symptoms. Not only will rest help you recover faster, but staying home prevents the flu spreading to co-workers.

People should stay home if they have a fever, typically 100.5 degrees or above. Those who are vomiting and/or have diarrhea should stay home. People should wait at least 24 hours after they've had a fever to return to work — and longer if they are returning to work with older patients or children, health officials say.

While early data indicates that the flu is only 36 percent effective overall in preventing the illness — and 25 percent effective against the H3N2 strain — doctors say getting the shot is still the best way to prevent getting the flu. It can also help reduce its severity. 

Contact Meredith Newman at (302) 324-2386 or at mnewman@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter at @merenewman.

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