Nearly 80 now dead from flu in Georgia - but is the season finally slowing down?

Months of widespread flu have sent thousands of people to the hospital and killed at least 79 people in Georgia alone so far, including at least three children, according to the latest numbers from the state health department.

But there are signs the season, the most intense since the swine flu epidemic of 2009, may slowly be on its way to leveling off.

One of the best ways to measure how widespread the flu is is to look at the number of people who are seeing a doctor for flu or flu-like symptoms.

Usually, that’s about 2 percent of visits. Across the U.S., it’s 7.5 percent, which is the same as what it was last week.

In Georgia, it was 15.2 percent - a small decrease from the previous week, the first time this season there has actually been a decrease in those numbers.

That doesn’t mean the season is over - not by a long shot. But for the last many weeks, deaths and infection rates have only climbed higher and higher. The fact that they did not do so this week is good news, but not the end of the fight, health officials say.

“We are not out of the woods yet. We are not seeing any increase, and that is encouraging. But there still is a lot of flu happening out there,” Dr. Daniel Jernigan, the CDC's influenza chief, told the Associated Press.

Flu remains widespread and widely circulating in every U.S. state except Oregon and Hawaii. It is difficult to estimate total flu-related deaths mid-season, but the CDC does say at least 84 children have died as a result or in connection to the flu so far.

In Georgia, about 75 percent of flu-related deaths have been those aged 65 and older. The flu can be especially deadly to the old, very young and those with weakened immune system.

Even as infection, hospitalization and death rates fall slightly, the state’s medical system struggles to keep up with the still-huge influx of patients coming for treatment.

Several hospitals, including Grady Memorial in Atlanta and Midtown Medical Center in Columbus have set up temporary, portable flu treatment centers in their parking lots to isolate flu patients from other patients and to streamline treatment.

Many hospitals have discouraged or outright banned visitors who are exhibiting signs of the flu from visiting patients.

Health officials are still saying the best way to protect yourself from flu is to receive the annual flu shot.

The CDC reports that of the 84 children who died from flu this season, only 26 percent who were eligible to receive the shot had gotten it.

“Flu is something we face every year,” said Georgia Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. J. Patrick O’Neal. “It’s not the common cold. It’s something to be reckoned with. It’s terribly important for the public to understand that the best protection we have is the seasonal flu shot.”

In Australia, which sees its flu season before the U.S., the flu shot was reportedly only about 10 percent effective.

The CDC estimates the effectiveness of the vaccine in the U. S this year is about 36 percent.

So the shot can help reduce your chance of flu by a little over a third. Other ways to reduce your chance of getting sick are to follow basic hygiene rules, health officials say: cover you nose when you sneeze or cough and wash your hands often.

Flu symptoms can be similar to a less-serious illness like the common cold, ranging from a sore throat and runny nose to vomiting, body aches, fevers, cough and extreme tiredness. Here are some tips on telling the difference between the flu and a cold.

This story was originally published February 20, 2018 at 7:42 AM with the headline "Nearly 80 now dead from flu in Georgia - but is the season finally slowing down?."