Update: Bay Area Flu Deaths on the Rise

Updated 2:10 p.m.:

Two new flu-related deaths were reporting on Thursday, bringing the known total of deaths around the Bay Area to eight so far this flu season.

On Thursday it was reported that a woman in her 40s in San Mateo County died, and that an Alameda County resident died in December. 

Two recent deaths in Marin County have been linked to the flu and another two in Santa Cruz County as well as one Contra Cost County and one in Santa Clara County are suspected of being flu-related, public health officials said Wednesday.

A 63-year-old man with significant chronic medical conditions died on Dec. 27, and a previously healthy 48-year-old woman died of an influenza-related complication on Jan. 6, Marin County Public Health Officer  Dr. Matt Willis said.

Both were hospitalized in intensive care, and neither had received a flu vaccine, Willis said.

Six other flu patients, most of them young or middle-aged adults, have been hospitalized in the county, Willis said. 

There were also two suspected influenza-related deaths within the last two weeks in Santa Cruz County, a spokeswoman from that county's Public Health Department said. Both people were under age 65 and lab tests have not yet confirmed that the deaths are flu-related, the spokeswoman said.

A 48-year-old Contra Costa woman's death was also flu-related and a 41-year-old Santa Clara woman's death right before Christmas was attributed to the illness.

The predominant influenza virus nationally and in the Bay Area in the 2013-14 flu season is A H1N1, the same virus that caused the 2009-10 H1N1 pandemic, according to the San Mateo County Health System.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials said the H1N1 virus continues to circulate widely, and illnesses are disproportionately affecting young and middle-age adults.

Public health officials are urging residents to get a flu shot if they haven't already. (Click here to find a flu shot provider nearest you.) This year's vaccine protects against H1N1 and other influenza strains.

Here's a list of flu symptoms.

Other preventive measures include covering the mouth and nose when 
coughing or sneezing, using tissues and discarding them in a trash 
receptacle, scrubbing hands often with soap and water, using alcohol-based 
hand cleaners, and staying home from work or school if you have flu-like 
symptoms.