Minnesota
Flu season sweeps through Minnesota, dozens of schools face outbreaks
Minnesota sees steep, early spike in flu instances
The flu is hitting Minnesota early, and it is hitting exhausting, with a spike in hospitalizations over the previous week. To this point, the state has recorded 439 hospitalizations from the flu – a quantity we usually do not see till the tip of the 12 months.
(FOX 9) – Flu season is off to an early and fast begin in Minnesota, as respiratory viruses sweep via faculties.
In line with weekly information launched by the Minnesota Division of Well being, faculty outbreaks doubled within the final week. Whereas there have been 97 new faculty outbreaks within the first week of November, that quantity skyrocketed to 195 new outbreaks within the second week.
MDH information courting again to 2010 exhibits this is without doubt one of the earliest begins to the flu season in current historical past.
“The rise and onset of viruses this early in November – and we haven’t even reached Thanksgiving – actually has our consideration,” stated Pediatric Physician with Gillette Kids’s Hospital Madeline Gagnon.
Gagnon says the influenza hospitalizations at Gillette are mirroring the developments being reported by MDH, as they’re already reporting half the variety of hospitalizations they noticed all of final 12 months.
The Hinckley-Finlayson faculty district had so many college students out sick this week, directors introduced a shift to digital studying Friday. A district spokesperson stated round 20 p.c of scholars have been out sick, most of them exhibiting flu-like signs.
St. Paul Public Faculties partnered with Ramsey County Public Well being to supply the primary group flu shot clinics in over a decade at district headquarters Thursday. St. Paul Faculties reported sick calls almost doubling the final two weeks.
“We knew this was going to be an issue this 12 months… which is without doubt one of the causes we needed to do that,” stated Mark Jackson with Ramsey County Public Well being.
A spokesperson with MDH stated regardless of the sudden spike, every season goes to be totally different as a result of flu’s unpredictability and they also don’t contemplate this uncommon or sudden.