Boston Public Health Commission reports a decrease in flu cases

After this intense flu season, it’s safe to say we’ve had just about enough of this. Photo via Flickr/foshydog

Flu fearing Bostonians can breathe easy, because a particularly grueling flu season seems to be losing momentum.

Boston has seen a continued decrease in the number of reported influenza cases this month, according to the Boston Public Health Commission.

The decline is no doubt welcome news for a city that last month declared a public health emergency due to the virus.

There were 33 cases reported between Feb. 3 and Feb 9, with a total of 1,418 cases reported since Oct. 1, the commission said.

Since then, 17 people have died due to the illness – 16 of them were over the age of 65 and one was a child under the age of 6.

The commission said 295 cases – 28 percent – of infected people were hospitalized, with 75 percent of hospitalizations involving people over the age of 45 with underlying medical conditions.

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