Arizona records highest ever number of flu cases reported by December

PHOENIX — Arizona has recorded the highest ever number of flu cases reported by mid-December, health officials said Wednesday.

The Arizona Department of Health Services said it had received reports of 2,796 cases of flu as of Wednesday compared to just 347 at the same time last year.

That was a 758 percent increase in the number of reported cases.

The department said the large number of cases meant the illness was widespread, a designation it typically does not reach until February.

In November, the department said it was seeing about 70 or so cases per week.

Jessica Rigler, chief of the Bureau of Epidemiology and Disease Control at the Arizona Department of Health Services, said people should get a shot to prevent the illness.

Most doctors’ offices, clinics and pharmacies offer the shot. Rigler said everyone above 6 months old needs one.

“They (children under 6 months) can’t be vaccinated,” she said in September. “If everyone else in the house is vaccinated, you’re making sure those babies are safe.”

Influenza is one of the world’s most common viral infections. It’s easily spread but can be treated with over-the-counter medications. It attacks mainly the nose, throat and lungs.

Symptoms include muscle aches, fever and fatigue.

KTAR News’ Jeremy Foster contributed to this report.

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