Health officials: 157 flu deaths in Iowa so far this season

DES MOINES, Iowa (KCCI) — The Iowa Department of Public Health said 31 Iowans died last week of influenza-related complications, bringing the total number of flu-related deaths in the state to 157 since October.

Health officials said it’s the worst flu season in nearly a decade since the swine flu outbreak in 2009.

But doctors at Methodist Medical Center said they’ve seen a sharp decrease in patients with flu-like symptoms.

“We are seeing people really sick,” said Amy Varcoe, a spokeswoman for the hospital.

Jeff Brock, a pharmacist at Mercy Medical Center, said the state is trending in the right direction.

“It looks like we’ve hit our peak this flu season, and we’re on our way down,” Brock said.

That doesn’t mean people aren’t still aren’t getting the flu, Varcoe said, “but the severity seems to be lessening.”

This week, Methodist Medical Center saw a steep drop in flu-ridden patients, from 48 combined in-patients and out-patients to just 21.

The state’s Department of Public Health dropped Iowa’s Influenza Activity Level from high to moderate on Friday.

But Influenza A, the most prominent strain, is still spreading at an alarming rate.

“The flu vaccines aren’t as effective against that strain because that particular strain doesn’t grow very well in eggs,” Brock said. “And that’s the primary way that manufacturers produce the flu vaccine.”

Officials said no Iowa children have died of the flu this season, but it’s hit older Iowans the most.

“We didn’t see this strain before the late 1950s, so if you were born before the late 1950s, your immune system was sort of primed against a different flu virus,” Brock said.

No matter your age, though, Brock said getting the flu shot is your best bet. “Just because you think you may have had the flu once, you can still get it again,” he said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the flu season appears to have peaked nationwide, so the drop in flu cases in Iowa seems to be in line with the national trend.

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