Officials say the disease is rampant in the state
By Noah Manskar
New York City Patch
(Photo by Jessica Kourkounis/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY — The flu is running rampant across New York State with nearly 3,000 cases in the last week of 2017 – and many more recorded since, health officials say.
he state Department of Health recorded 2,887 influenza cases in the week ending Dec. 30, up 66 percent spike on the week before and three times as many as the week before that.
The virus put 870 people in the hospital in New York in the last week of 2017, 86 percent more than the week before, the state health department says.
New York isn’t alone. The flu is currently widespread in all but four states and the District of Columbia, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention which tracks the virus across the nation.
In New York City, there were roughly 11 cases per 100,000 people as of Dec. 30, up from about eight the week before.
The metropolitan region, which includes Long Island and the southern Hudson Valley, saw about 14 cases per 100,000 people. Central New York, the hardest-hit region, reported about 28 cases.
Patients aged 65 and older account for the most cases statewide, followed by 18- to 49-year-olds, Department of Health data shows.
Make sure to get your flu shot to protect yourself from this year’s aggressive virus. Here’s a guide to where to get one, if you haven’t already.
(Lead image: A patient gets a flu shot in 2013 in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Photo by Jessica Kourkounis/Getty Images)