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Health Officials Report the Flu Season is Hitting Ohio Hard

photo of flu care supplies
JO INGLES
/
STATEHOUSE NEWS BUREAU

Cases of the flu are plaguing Ohioans throughout the state, and hospitalizations are soaring.

The Ohio Department of Health’s Melanie Amato says there’s been a 470 percent increase in hospitalizations related to the flu.

“At this time last year, we had only seen about 369 total hospitalizations.  ... This year, we are at 2,104,” she said.

Amato says flu cases peaked in March last year. She says flu shots are the best way to prevent the flu or make it less serious if you get it. While some experts have said this year’s vaccine may be only 10 percent effective, she says the Centers for Disease Control reports it’s 40 to 60 percent effective.

Jo Ingles is a professional journalist who covers politics and Ohio government for the Ohio Public Radio and Television for the Ohio Public Radio and Television Statehouse News Bureau. She reports on issues of importance to Ohioans including education, legislation, politics, and life and death issues such as capital punishment. Jo started her career in Louisville, Kentucky in the mid 80’s when she helped produce a televised presidential debate for ABC News, worked for a creative services company and served as a general assignment report for a commercial radio station. In 1989, she returned back to her native Ohio to work at the WOSU Stations in Columbus where she began a long resume in public radio.