Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Spring Membership Drive


Donate now to support local news and music on WBOI

Influenza Claims Over A Dozen Allen County Lives

  Influenza continues to take its it toll around the U.S. and here in northeast Indiana.

The fifth week of flu season ended Feb. 3, and according to the Indiana Department of Health’s statewide influenza report, 167 Hoosiers have succumbed to the illness, more than 10 times the number of deaths recorded by this point last year.

Thirteen of this season’s influenza fatalities lived in Allen County, one less than all of last year.

Allen County Health Commissioner Dr. Deb McMahon says it is too early to see if Allen County will lose more people to the virus than last year, but any death from influenza is a loss. The strain hitting Allen County so hard is predominantly the H3N2 variety.

 

Throughout the country, about 7.7 percent of people are seeking care for an "Influenza Like Illness." That is more than three times the Centers for Disease Control baseline of 2.2 percent.

 

Rebecca manages the news at WBOI. She joined the staff in December 2017, and brought with her nearly two decades of experience in print journalism, including 15 years as an award-winning reporter for the Journal Gazette in Fort Wayne.