| | | From 2018:
Texas toll: Flu killed nearly 10,000 this season
In what was considered the worst season in years, the flu and flu-related pneumonia killed nearly 10,000 Texans in 2017-2018, according to state health officials.
The 9,470 deaths represent a spike of nearly 27 percent from the 7,459 deaths in 2016-2017, and an increase of nearly 82 percent over the 5,215 deaths in 2015-2016, the only previous years when overall deaths were tracked. The latest figures are likely not all-time highs, considering many past seasons were marked by similarly high hospitalization rates and more pediatric deaths.
"These death totals are a reminder of the toll this epidemic takes every year," said Chris Van Deusen, director of media relations for the Texas health department. "It's easy to let your guard down and see the flu as something that inevitably happens, that you get over. But lots of people don't."
The vast majority of the deaths involve seniors. Fifteen of this season's deaths involved children.
chron.com |
|
