Hays County is ramping up efforts for flu shot awareness after the first flu-related death in Hays County was reported Feb. 6.
According to officials, the victim was described as an elderly Wimberley man who died as a result of complications from the virus.
“This year’s flu season has been one of the worst ones Hays County has seen in years, and there are no signs that it will be stopping any time soon,” reported in a Hays County press release.
Since September, there have been 2,500 cases of people who had a positive flu test in Hays County. Compared to the 2017 flu season, which spanned from September to May, there were only 1,001 positive flu cases in the county.
“We’re still in the middle of peak flu season,” Hays County Epidemiologist Eric Schneider said. “Our numbers that are coming in for positive flu tests per week are only increasing still, they haven’t hit the peak, and they are not declining yet.”
The flu season is usually over by May and the number of positive flu tests begins to decline by mid-March.
“It’s never too late to get the flu shot, if you haven’t gotten one already,” Schneider. “We’re looking at at least six more weeks of high numbers of flu, so the more people who can get the shot, the quicker those numbers will start going down, hopefully.”
Schneider also explained that they are seeing a higher rate of influenza B in the county, rather than influenza A which was the prominent strain last year.
“People didn’t get the vaccine because they heard it was only 10 percent effective, in reality it was more like 30 percent, but that was against flu A, and now we’re seeing a higher rate of flu B because people didn’t get vaccinated,” Schneider said.
On Feb. 13, the Hays County Health Department offered free flu vaccines in San Marcos.
The flu shots came complimentary from the state health department, which reached out to the county to offer extra shots.
