As we approach what’s traditionally a seasonal jump in flu cases in Mississippi, we’re starting from a lower position this year. In its latest report, the State Health Department says the flu rate has ticked up slightly to 3.4 per cent. That’s the percentage of patients seeing their doctors with flu-like symptoms statewide. Last year at this point, it was almost double that. We wound up peaking in late December at just under 10 per cent.
And while our statewide flu rate remains in the CDC’s “minimal” category, when you drill down into the local public health districts, the numbers are higher. In the district which includes Attala and Holmes counties, it’s already almost 9 per cent and in the district which includes Leake and Neshoba counties, it’s just under 7 per cent.
