California’s flu season has just begun to ramp up, but 42 people in the state have already died of influenza, according to officials.
The death tally began in October, the official start of the flu season nationwide. The season runs through May and typically reaches its height in February.
Older people are more likely to develop serious complications, such as pneumonia, after catching the flu. Half the deaths in California this season are among people over 65, according to state data.
In California and nationwide, the flu strain going around is H1N1, a kind of Influenza A known as “swine flu.” Nationally, 77% of flu cases so far have tested positive for H1N1, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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