Minnesota’s Flu Season Has Been Almost Non-Existent

St. Paul, MN (KROC-AM News) - The 2015-2016 flu season in Minnesota might be one for the history books.

The Minnesota Department of Health is categorizing flu activity in the state as sporadic for a 2nd straight week during a time of the year that the number of influenza cases is normally peaking.  The department’s weekly flu activity update notes there were no outbreaks reported in schools or nursing homes in Minnesota during the past week, and there was only one flu-related hospitalization.

Since the start of the season, there have only been 58 hospitalizations due to influenza, which is far below the number reported over the previous 6 flu seasons. Last year, the state experienced over 4,100 flu-related hospitalizations.

The report also shows the percentage of people seeking treatment at clinics who present flu-like symptoms, and the percentage of positive results among specimens submitted for testing were below one-percent over the past week.