Flu season: hospitalizations jumped 500 percent

April 30, 2010

Flu season, by the numbers

Flu season is usually over by April 30. Last year, with H1N1, it was just

beginning. By MAURA LERNER, Star Tribune

In a normal year, today would mark the end of the flu season in Minnesota. But

as everyone knows, this was no typical flu season.

Last year at this time, the H1N1 flu pandemic was just beginning. Health experts

braced for the worst, unsure how the new flu virus would behave.

So how did the H1N1 outbreak compare to a typical flu season? Here's a look, by

the numbers.

Hospitalizations jumped 500 percent.

In the past year, 1,821 people were hospitalized in Minnesota with confirmed

cases of H1N1 flu, according to the Minnesota Department of Health. By

comparison, only 302 flu cases were reported by hospitals in the previous flu

season, the winter of 2008-2009.

The higher numbers might, in small measure, reflect closer scrutiny. This year,

the Health Department dramatically ramped up efforts to track flu cases. In past

years, hospitals weren't asked to test every suspected case; this year they

were.

Child deaths increased

Nine Minnesota children died of flu-related causes this past year: eight from

complications of the H1N1 flu, one from a different strain. In the previous

year, there were none, and in the past five flu seasons, the death toll among

children ranged from zero to six per year.

In addition, 61 adults died of the flu this season. Because of changes in

reporting, the Health Department doesn't have similar records for previous

years. But nationally, about 12,000 deaths were linked to the flu this year,

compared with about 36,000 in a typical year, according to estimates from the U.

S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

One difference this year: nearly 90 percent of the deaths occurred among people

younger than 65.

When the H1N1 vaccine finally arrived...

One in three Minnesotans got it -- well above the national average of one in

four.

About 2.4 million doses were ordered. About 1.4 million doses were used, at last

count.

It's still not too late to get vaccinated, officials say.

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