Influenza deaths are rising in Montana. Experts said it’s not too late to get the flu vaccine, which can lower the chances of severe complications from infection.
According to the state health department, 36 people have died of flu-related complications so far this season.
Those include two pediatric deaths and 34 adults, most of whom were seniors.
The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a couple of abnormally quiet flu seasons, but health officials said Montana is now returning to previous trends in hospitalizations and deaths.
Montana reported 41 deaths in the flu season just before the pandemic.
Flu cases typically start in October, peak around February, and start to decline by April.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has preliminarily classified the national flu season as ‘moderately severe.’