Minnesota Flu Update: 60 Dead, Almost 2,000 Hospitalized

The Minnesota Department of Health’s latest flu information was released this week.

By now, Minnesotans are well aware of the obvious: this year’s flu has been brutal. According to Minnesota Department of Health data, 1,842 people have been hospitalized and 60 people have died in the state since the flu outbreak began. On the Golden Valley, Maple Grove and Plymouth-MN Patch Facebook pages, users shared comments about how the flu has, or has not, been impacting their households. Heidi Engels Bjugstad - Got my flu shot, but still came down with the flu at the end of November. It was miserable. Cory Peterson - Not getting a flu shot seems silly. Why take the risk? Abby Jimenez - Family of five. Three of us got it. My six year old had a temp of 104.5. And she had a flu shot. Danielle Joseph - I was diagnosed with Influenza A…

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What's Truth and Fiction in Influenza Epidemic? Ask a Patch Pro

Get answers from a medical doctor, a specialist in traditional Chinese medicine, and two public health professionals.

The numbers behind this winter's influenza epidemic can look really scary. It's sickened thousands and killed at least 27 in Minnesota alone, including a 14-year old St. Louis Park high schooler who was first hospitalized on Christmas Day. To top it off, the flu strains being passed around this year are spreading even further and faster than in most years. All together, it can make you worry that the next person to sneeze on you at the grocery store could give you the bug. It's the kind of worry that leaves you asking questions. How contagious is influenza? What can you do to steel yourself against the virus? How does a flu shot or an immune-boosting substance even work? To answer all your queries, Patch has asked a team of experts to …

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Flu Rates Skyrocket in Minnesota; 27 Deaths Now Reported

More than 1,100 hospitalized; Minnesota Department of Health urges precautions.

This flu season is proving brutal in Minnesota, with the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) now reporting 27 deaths in the state, including 23 that officials have been able to confirm as flu-related since Dec. 30. Since the start of the influenza season, 1,121 people have been hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed influenza, according to the MDH reports for the 2012–2013 season. That number includes 401 hospitalizations for the week ending Jan. 5. North Memorial, which has a family clinic in Golden Valley, implemented "expanded visitor restrictions" on Jan. 9. According to a statement on their website: MDH officials say the number of those hospitalized throughout the state rivals those seen during the 2009 swine flu pandemic, but that …

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CDC Says Flu Rates Up Across Minnesota: Where to Get Flu Shots in Golden Valley

Here's where to get an influenza vaccine, how to recognize symptoms and what to know about treatment if you get sick.