CDC Confirms Death Toll From Last Flu Season: More Than 80,000

This was the highest casualty rate in at least 40 years.

flu
(Getty Images)
Getty Images

A Center for Disease Control and Prevention spokesperson confirmed that more than 80,000 people died from the flu last winter during what was a particularly nasty influenza season. This is the highest number reported in at least 40 years.

“It was a really tough flu year,” Colin Bucks, an emergency medicine physician at Stanford Health Care, told BuzzFeed News. “It’s frustrating because it’s preventable. It’s stuff we prepare for every year.”

The CDC estimates that there have been between 140,000 and 710,000 flu-related hospitalizations since 2010. They estimate between 12,000 and 56,000 flu-related deaths between that time.

Last winter’s flu season started earlier than usual, and struck infants and the elderly particularly hard. Activity remained high through the end of March. The outbreak included a mixture of three strains, and the flu vaccine was not effective against the predominant strain.

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