MONTGOMERY CO.-- The number of reported flu cases and E.R. visits because of the virus continues to drop in the Miami Valley. However, health officials say we are not out of the woods when it comes to this year's flu season.
Dr. Kindra Engle works in the E.R. at Kettering Medical Center.
"I think that this year has been a little more brisk with the flu than last year and we have seen more people getting sick who got the shot," said Dr. Engle
Dr. Engle says the number of people walking into the E.R. with the flu is dropping. Part of it could be the cold weather keeping people in and the snow days many schools have used in the area.
"People shouldn't jump to any conclusions from that. We're in the very early part of the flu season," said Bill Wharton, with Public Health - Dayton & Montgomery Co.
Flu season runs through March. Usually we see peaks and valleys when it comes to the number of cases.
"Sometimes we'll see it earlier than others because we tend to be a bit of a larger area and we'll start to see the spike early and then we kind of go through it a little earlier," said Dr. Engle.
The Ohio Health Department says more than 1,000 people were hospitalized for the flu during the first full week of the New Year. The latest statewide numbers showed 1,623 flu-related hospitalizations for the week ending Jan. 10. That's a 36 percent jump from a week earlier and brings the season total to 6,111.
Health officials in Ohio's most populous county are reporting eight people died from the flu in a week as the unusually bad flu season continues.
The deaths reported by the Cuyahoga County Board of Health for the week ending Jan. 10 is half the agency's total of 16 for the season and the most in a week since 2009. The board reported Friday that the ages of the victims ranged from 60 to 97. The county has seen 1,191 flu-related hospitalizations this season, also the most since 2009.
Here in the valley we're at just a third of the number of cases we had three weeks ago.
"Hopefully we may have been through the worst but we won't know that until we look back on the flu season. You really can't project what it's going to be like in the upcoming weeks," said Wharton.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said this year's vaccine may not protect against the dominant flu strain as well.
The state says getting the vaccine is still important, especially for the chronically ill, the elderly and pregnant women.