With back-to-school season now in full swing, another, much less fun, season is right around the corner — flu season.
Though most health experts don’t feel the season truly hits high gear until October, many chain drug stores have begun offering flu vaccine through their pharmacies, and there’s already some speculation as whether this season will be as nasty as the last one.
“There’s no way to predict how it will be,” said Dr. Zane Saul, chief of infectious disease at Bridgeport Hospital. “It could be a crazy season or a mild season.”
Last flu season was a tough one, both in Connecticut and nationwide. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that hospitalization rates for the flu in the United States were the highest ever recorded through the Influenza Hospitalization Surveillance Network.
Though the CDC doesn’t track adult deaths related to the flu, it does track deaths of children. Last season, there were 179 pediatric deaths related to the flu, including at least three in Connecticut. According to unofficial totals from the Connecticut Department of Public Health, there were 154 flu-associated deaths in the state last year — the highest number in at least five seasons.
One of the issues last year was concern about whether the flu shot was effective enough at preventing the contagious respiratory illness. Click here to continue reading.
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