Flu Cases Rose Again In New York: Weekly Report

Flu continues to hit New Yorkers hard, with a 9 percent increase last week in the number of confirmed influenza cases reported to the New York State Department of Health. On Thursday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo extended the emergency executive order which allows pharmacists to administer flu vaccines to children ages 2 to 18.

However, the number of patients hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed influenza continued to decline. It was the second week since influenza was declared prevalent in December that there was a drop, with 2,160 hospitalizations, a 13 percent decrease over last week.

Last week, 18,258 laboratory-confirmed cases were reported to the New York State Department of Health, again the highest weekly number since reporting began in 2004.

As of February 17th, 87,619 laboratory confirmed cases of influenza have been reported and 16,578 people have been hospitalized with influenza in New York State this season, officials said. There have been 5 pediatric influenza deaths this flu season; 14,175 children under the age of five have been diagnosed with lab confirmed influenza; and 1,098 have been hospitalized.

During last year's flu season, there were 12,912 flu-related hospitalizations and eight pediatric deaths in New York. Over the last four years, there have been a total of 25 pediatric flu deaths in New York State and an average of 10,571 flu-related hospitalizations a year.

Last week, Cuomo announced a 30-day budget amendment to increase convenience and vaccine accessibility to encourage pharmacies to enroll in the New York State Vaccines for Children Program, which provides vaccines to children and individuals regardless of their ability to pay. The Governor also called on individual physicians to enroll in the Vaccines for Children program, if not already enrolled.

"As this flu epidemic continues, I again urge New Yorkers to take every precaution to fight this virus and protect themselves and their loved ones," Cuomo said in Thursday's announcement. "We will continue to ensure availability and affordability of the flu vaccine, and I encourage all New Yorkers to take advantage of the expanded access and get vaccinated."

The extended Executive Order suspends the section of state education law that limits the authority of pharmacists to administer immunizing agents to anyone under age 18 to allow vaccines to be administered to anyone age 2 and up. Parents and guardians are encouraged to call pharmacies ahead of their visit, to ensure they are ready to receive patients in this age group. Parents and guardians with children between the ages of 6 months and 24 months are still encouraged to see their primary care provider for the vaccination.

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