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Illness

Thursday, January 10, 2013

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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