It looks like a lot of Alaskans resolved to get the flu in 2019 based on recent flu reports.<\/p>\n
Lab-confirmed cases of influenza have risen dramatically beginning in January, according to the Alaska Influenza Report <\/a>issued by the Alaska Division of Public Health.<\/p>\n Through December 2018, there were 84 lab-confirmed cases of the flu in Alaska, according to the report. In January, there were 750 — there have been 1,014 total — with most of them coming in the back half of the month.<\/p>\n “These past couple of weeks there’s certainly been an increase,” said Louisa Castrodale, epidemiologist for the Alaska Division of Public Health.<\/p>\n The week of Jan. 12, there were still fewer than 100 flu cases reported. In each of the next two weeks, there were more than 300, according to the report.<\/p>\n [Cold weather can’t stop vigil for those aboard missing plane<\/a>]<\/ins><\/p>\n While the majority of cases in January and in general were in Anchorage, there were 54 confirmed cases in Southeast Alaska in January and 127 for the season as a whole.<\/p>\n “We’re detecting flu throughout the state,” Castrodale said.<\/p>\n It’s also just flu season in Alaska. The CDC’s most resent estimate put the number of flu sufferers at between 6 million and 7 million.<\/p>\n Alaska’s flu activity is among the highest in the nation for the 2018-2019 flu season, according the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.<\/a><\/p>\n Castrodale said each flu season features different peaks and dips in activity, so it is difficult to compare what’s happening this year with past seasons or to discern patterns.<\/p>\n