40°
Officials said that 1,606 New Yorkers were among those hospitalized this week with lab-confirmed flu cases, marking the highest weekly number in more than a decade, prompting health officials to implore residents to get flu shots.
In New York, during the week ending on Jan. 6, there were 3,942 laboratory-confirmed influenza reports, a 37 percent increase from the previous week, according to the CDC. Of those reports, 364 tested positive for influenza. There was one pediatric death in the state from the flu, the only of the season. A second in the region was reported in New Canaan.
Residents in the region reported more than 10 cases of the flu per 100,000 people in the region, among the highest in the country.
Health officials said that all people 6 months and older are recommended to receive an influenza vaccination each year. Depending on vaccine type available the vaccine will protect against either three or four different influenza viruses. Certain people are at "high risk" of serious complications from seasonal influenza. These include people 65 years and older, children younger than 5 years old, pregnant women, and people of any age with certain chronic medical conditions.
Advice from the CDC to avoid contracting or spreading the flu can be found here.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Rye and receive free news updates.
