The flu epidemic continues to kill Georgians but also continues to lose strength.
Numbers released by state health officials Friday for the week ending March 3 showed nine new reports of a Georgia death due to flu. The previous week, there were 20.
During the worst week, in January, the Georgia Department of Public Health reported 26 deaths.
There hasn’t been a report of a child death from flu in Georgia in three weeks.
The numbers refer to the week in which the deaths were confirmed and reported; the actual deaths may have happened earlier.
Hospitalizations so far this flu season reached just over 2,500 in the state. The flu's virulence this year took many Americans by surprise, although early indicators had health officials concerned for months before it hit.
The most prevalent strain of the virus was elusive to match and was not well matched to this year’s flu vaccine, leading some people to brush off getting a flu shot. However, those who died were disproportionately those who had not been vaccinated.
Advice for handling the flu remains the same: drink lots of fluids, rest, stay away from work or school.
Signs of flu
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, warning signs for a possible flu emergency, in which the patient should seek emergency care, include:
trouble breathing
chest pain
persistent vomiting
flulike symptoms that improve but return with fever and a worse cough
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