The 2024-25 flu season grows more deadly in the county’s latest weekly tracking report with 19 additional flu deaths listed, including a fifth teenager.
While overall caseloads, and the percentage of patients visiting local emergency departments, continue to decline from the heights observed in January, the death total reached 150 last week, more than double the total for the previous season and more than three times greater than the prior five-season average of 44.
The median age of those who have died with the flu is 79, according to county records, with 118 of the total having other underlying medical conditions present at the time of death; 99 did not get their flu shots, while vaccination status was unknown for 13.
None of the five teens who have died since June 30, 2024, were vaccinated. That includes the latest teen death, a 16-year-old girl from inland North County who died on Feb. 11. She did not have underlying medical conditions, according to the county.
The number of teen deaths is significantly higher than is usually the case. Generally, only one or two teens die from influenza each year.
A total of 1,224 new flu cases were reported to the county health department last week, slightly fewer than the 1,932 reported two weeks ago. The season total now stands at 34,192 flu cases, nearly double the 19,035 recorded in the entirety of the 2023-24 flu year.
Emergency departments saw a significant dip in flu activity last week with 6 percent of visits exhibiting flu symptoms compared to 9 percent two weeks ago. But those numbers remain elevated over the prior five-year average of 4 percent.
