Albany, NY – At least 100 people across New York have been hospitalized with influenza, including one person diagnosed with the deadly Fujian strain, health officials said Friday.
There has been one confirmed case of influenza in Erie County.
Yet, while the illness has arrived earlier than usual, state Health Department spokeswoman Kristine Smith said the situation here is not as severe as some western states.
In Colorado, more than 6,000 cases have been reported, including six children who died from influenza, as well as three in Texas and one each in Oklahoma and New Mexico.
Typically, some 36,000 Americans die annually from the influenza virus, but flu researchers expect a higher death toll this year.
In Erie County, the medical director of the Erie County Health Department, Dr. Richard Judelsohn, told WBFO News Friday that local supplies of the flu vaccine are dwindling. State Health Commissioner Antonia Novello said New York is surveying local health departments to how much flu vaccine is available.
The flu season usually stretches from October to May, peaking in December and January. But this year, cases were reported in some Western states as early as September.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said much of the outbreak this fall has been the Fujian strain, which was not selected for this year's flu vaccine.
Children are particularly susceptible because their bodies have not previously been exposed to the virus that infects the nose, throat and lungs, the CDC said.