State officials say Ohio flu season peaking

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — What medical professionals describe as a slow flu season is reaching its peak around Ohio, according to state health officials.

Epidemiologist Patti Fraker with the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department tells The Blade of Toledo that there have been none of last year’s big increases in hospitalizations or workers out sick due to flu.

The newspaper reports the number of people hospitalized statewide for influenza more than doubled from mid-January to mid-February.

The Ohio Department of Health’s most recent figures show that more than 230 people were in the hospital for the flu during the week ending Feb. 12.

Fraker says the relatively quiet season may be owing to reports that the recent swine-flu concerns prompted more people to get flu shots than had been the case in previous years.