PORTLAND — Health officials say Maine has experienced a late-season flu surge with half of the state’s influenza cases happening in the month of March.
Dr. Siiri Bennett, the state epidemiologist, tells the Portland Press Herald that “there’s still a lot of flu out there.”
It been a busy season compared. Through April 1, Maine has had 4,188 positive tests for influenza viruses. That compares to 2,360 for all of the last flu season.
Bennett said there could be any number of reasons why positive tests in Maine have increased, including more testing of patients, the severity of the flu, types of strains circulating and effectiveness of the flu vaccine. Federal official say the effectiveness of the flu vaccine this season is 48 percent.
Siiri Bennett
Copy the Story LinkSend questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.