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Flu Season Persists Despite Warmer Temperatures

ST. PAUL (WCCO) - The Minnesota Department of Health is reminding Minnesotans that warmer temperatures do not mean an end to flu season.

A sixth child has died from the flu during the 2014-15 season, the department reported.

The state is on track this flu season to see the highest number of flu-related hospitalizations in the last decade.

So far, more than 3,000 people have been hospitalized.

Early in the season, a severe influenza-A strain emerged that was not covered by this year's vaccine.

While that strain's peak has dwindled, the MDH reported that the more common B strain, which is covered by this year's vaccine, has become more prominent in recent weeks.

Kris Ehresmann, the infectious disease director for the MDH, said everyone is still encouraged to get the flu shot if they have not already.

"Even if you had the flu earlier this season and you had Influenza-A, you can still get the flu again with the B strain," Ehresmann said.

Ehresmann said the warmer temperatures do not mean the virus will taper off any faster.

She said the flu season runs from October through May for the entire Northern hemisphere.

"That means even Florida and Arizona, all the states we envy this time of year, they too are experiencing influenza," Ehresmann said.

Ehresmann said humidity may play a role even if temperature does not.

She said lower humidity contributes to the seeming seasonality of the flu, so an end to a dry winter may help lessen the severity of flu outbreaks.

 

 

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