MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WMOT) -- Vanderbilt University Medical Center says 24 mid-state residents have died of the flu so far this winter.
Vanderbilt tracks flu deaths for the CDC in Metro Nashville and seven surrounding counties. The Medical Center only reports lab-confirmed flu cases, so the actual number of deaths could be higher.
Dr. Stan Clark is a physician at the MTSU University Medical Center. He says that while the flu is usually hardest on the young and old, this strain can be deadly for a middle-aged population.
He says the MTSU clinic has seen a marked increase in the number of flu cases on campus this semester, but fortunately, no serious cases.
“It’s just starting to tail off a little bit and that kind of fits the pattern for Tennessee. We kind of went from wide-spread to a little more regional on the surveillance, so hopefully we’re seeing the end of it, but sometimes it will spike a little bit toward the end as well, so I hope not.”
Clark says the flu season traditionally comes to a close in late March or early April, but also says doctors are still encouraging anyone who hasn’t gotten a flu shot to get one.