photo by: Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department/Contributed Graphic

This data in this graphic from Feb. 8, 2019 represents the percentage of visits by Douglas County residents to any emergency department in which the patients showed flu-like symptoms. The red line is from the 2017-2018 flu season; the blue line represents the 2018-2019 season.

The percentage of visits with flu-like symptoms to hospital emergency departments is on the rise for county residents, according to the latest data from the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department.

In the first and second weeks of February 2018, that number peaked. Friday’s number, about 7 percent, is the highest so far this season; however, last year’s was more than double that at 18 percent.

The flu is affecting the county’s youngest population at the highest proportion. In January, kids ages 0-4 years visited emergency departments at a rate of 78.97 per 10,000; the second largest group was those older than 65, at a rate of 14.17 per 10,000, according to the health department.

photo by: Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department/Contributed Graphic

This data in this graphic from Feb. 8, 2019 represents the proportion of visits by Douglas County residents to any emergency department in Kansas by CDC-defined age group.

Statewide, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment has recorded 742 deaths total in which influenza was the direct (5) or contributing (15) cause, or pneumonia was the direct (186) or contributing (536) cause. The 2017-18 season saw a total of 1,710 deaths, according to the KDHE’s weekly influenza surveillance report.

The local health department, at 200 Maine St., still has flu vaccines available on a walk-in basis during clinic hours: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesdays. Call the clinic at 785-843-3060 for more information.