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Allegheny County resident dies of flu-related complications, bringing total 26

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review - 3/26/2018

March 26--Another Allegheny County resident succumbed to flu-related causes last week, bringing the total of flu deaths this season to 26, according to the county health department.

The decedent was a male in his upper 80s. It is not known if there were any underlying medical conditions, the county said.

County health officials have refused to say where the residents lived.

This is the first death related to flu complications in two weeks in Allegheny County, an indication that the current flu season is reaching its end.

Nationally, doctor visits decreased for flu-like illnesses for the sixth week in a row, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. The CDC said for the week ending March 17, influenza B infections accounted for 57.5 percent of cases, while influenza A infections accounted for 42.5 percent. For the entire season so far, influenza A strains have been responsible for 75.6 percent of all cases, the CDC said.

Still, flu-related hospitalization rates continued to rise -- from 89.9 per 100,000 people for the week ending March 10, to 93.5 per 100,000 people for the week ending March 17, the CDC data showed. The number of Allegheny County residents hospitalized for flu so far this year was 693, compared with 377 from the same period a year earlier, the county health department said.

Flu season usually begins the first week in October and ends in May.

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