More than 700 flu cases have already occurred in the state, compared to just 124 cases during the same time last year. South Carolina’s five-year average for flu cases at this point in the season is 134 cases, according to data from the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control.
“If the current trend continues, and we actually still peak in February — it’s going to be a tremendous amount of outbreak,” Arash Poursina, MD, an infectious disease specialist at Rock Hill, S.C.-based Piedmont Medical Center, told WBTV.
At present, 11 South Carolina residents have died from the flu this season. Nationwide, the CDC estimates about 2,100 flu deaths have occurred.
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