Flu deaths in Arkansas this season grew by about 10% in the week ending March 28, with 11 new fatalities reported by the Health Department.
According to state data released Friday, 116 people in the state have died from influenza during the season that began at the end of September. Among them are three children, with no new pediatric deaths reported Friday.
This year's total comes close to last year's 120 deaths from flu.
A little more than half of this year's deaths have involved people age 65 or older, and 34 deaths have been reported in people between the ages of 45 and 64.
Just over 1,300 people have been hospitalized for treatment of the flu in Arkansas this year, and the Health Department has stressed that official numbers, which include only people who sought treatment, show a fraction of total disease burden.
Several metrics showed flu season beginning to wane in the state.
For last week, Arkansas joined 18 states showing "regional" flu activity, an improvement from "widespread" activity reported in 22 states and Puerto Rico, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The previous week, influenza was "widespread" in 38 states and Puerto Rico.
Arkansas also continues to show drops in the number of influenza-related claims processed by Medicaid, and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Arkansas, the report said.
Nationally, influenza A has been more common this season, CDC data shows. That's also true in Arkansas, where 53% of flu tests have shown that type.
The CDC estimates that the flu killed about 23,000 people in the U.S. in this reporting period, including roughly 149 children. Older adults, young kids, pregnant women, and people with HIV or AIDS, diabetes, cancer and asthma all are at higher risk of flu complications.
In the active 2017-18 flu season, during which an estimated 61,000 flu deaths occurred, the public health agency estimated that vaccinations averted 5,700 deaths and 91,000 hospitalizations.
Metro on 04/04/2020