County records first flu death
By From Staff And Wire Reports
Published in News on January 16, 2015 1:46 PM
State health officials say 26 people died from the flu in North Carolina last week, raising the death toll for 2014-2015 to 90.
And one of those victims was from Wayne County.
Josa Vaughn, who works with communicable disease management at the Wayne County Health Department, told the county Board of Health this week that an 80-year-old patient died after contracting a severe case of the flu.
The patient, who was not identified, had other health conditions, and died at Wayne Memorial Hospital.
The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services reports all 26 deaths across the state involved adults. Of the 90 deaths this flu season, 72 of them have been patients age 65 and older. Last week, the department reported 38 deaths.
For the comparable period in 2014, five people died from the flu, which raised the death toll at the time to 27. Last season, the state reported 107 people died from flu-related symptoms.
Officials say there are signs that the flu season has peaked in North Carolina. The state Division of Public Health says the number of flu cases treated at outpatient centers in the state declined significantly last week.
The same seems to be true in Wayne County.
Ms. Vaughn said no schools have reported flu-related absences.
But for those who are still worried about catching the flu, there are still 300 vaccines left at the health department, she said.