More than 900 Californians, including 15 children, have died from the flu this season

This year’s flu season is off to a deadly start.

Over 900 people have died from influenza since the beginning of October in California, more than have died at this point in any of the last six respiratory virus seasons, according to a report released Friday by the California Department of Public Health.

A quarter of those deaths have been among people under 65 years old. Older folks tend to be the most at risk, with about 700 people 65 and older dying so far this year from the common virus. But at least 15 children have also succumbed to the flu, including four teenagers in San Diego County, raising concerns.

When compared to the data reported over the course of previous flu seasons, the toll this year has already exploded past the totals from the last several flu seasons.

At this point of the season, Week 7, there were about 500 deaths last season, and 600 the year before, but in both of those seasons the deaths had already started to plateau by mid-February. This year, the number of deaths has yet to show signs of slowing.

“It’s a surprise” said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, a UC San Francisco professor of medicine who specializes in infectious diseases. He said it was projected to be an average season, but it is turning out to be anything but. And with test positivity rates still high, there are at least a few weeks left of the virus’s sending people to the hospital before it retreats for its annual hibernation, which usually begins as spring turns to summer.

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“It is surprising, first of all that we didn’t see much COVID, and secondly that we saw a lot of flu,” Chin-Hong said. “And not just flu — bad flu which is making people seriously ill.”

He said it is important for people to know that despite its being late in the typical virus season, it is not too late to get vaccinated against influenza, whether they have had one strain already or not. Chin-Hong also wants to remind people of the antivirals available to combat the worst outcomes.

Tamiflu, an antiviral used to treat the flu, can also be used prophylactically to prevent the spread of the virus within a household, and Chin-Hong would recommend those who are living with elderly or at-risk family members to ask their doctor about it.

“The last really bad flu season was in 2009, for swine flu,” Chin-Hong said, “since then it has kind of been regular flu seasons, until this year.”

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