Eight more flu-related deaths were reported to the state last week, raising the state's toll from the current flu season to 36, the Arkansas Department of Health reported.
The department also reported that emergency room and doctor office visits from patients with flu-like symptoms declined last week as compared with the week before.
That may indicate that the spread of the illness has peaked, although it's too soon to say for sure, said Gary Wheeler, the Health Department's chief medical officer.
"That may be just a statistical aberration, or it may be real," Wheeler said. "We probably won't know until next week whether we're really seeing a decrease in the average number of cases per day."
The deaths reported last week include three among people ages 45-64, raising the total flu-related deaths in that age group this season to four.
All of the other deaths so far have been among people 65 or older.
Flu season typically starts in the fall and peaks in January or February. This season started earlier than usual, with emergency room and doctor visits increasing significantly in December.
The most recent Health Department flu report shows a drop in those numbers.
During the week that ended Saturday, 1,497 patients with flu-like illnesses were reported to have visited emergency rooms, down from 1,594 the week before, according to the report.
The percentage of all emergency room visits by patients with flu-like illnesses dropped to 6.5 percent from 6.8 percent a week earlier.
The percentage of doctor visits by patients with flu-like illnesses dropped to 8.7 percent from 14.4 percent a week earlier.
Claims paid by the state Medicaid program and Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield for medical costs related to the flu also fell, according to the report.
The report did indicate an increase in school absences last week compared with the week before Christmas break, but Wheeler said such increases can be difficult to interpret.
"There are many viruses circulating at the same time, and a lot of kids are absent not necessarily because of the flu but for other reasons," he said.
Even as the number of new cases falls, the number of reported deaths is likely to continue rising because of delays in reporting and because many people who become ill don't die until weeks later, Wheeler said.
The final toll likely won't be known until the spring and likely will be more than twice as high as it is now, he said.
"Having 80 to 100 deaths per year is certainly well within our expected number that get reported to us," he said.
During the 2014-15 season, 110 Arkansans died of the flu, making it the state's deadliest season in decades. The number of deaths fell to 15 the next season, then increased to 63 in the 2016-17 season.
People who haven't been immunized should get their flu shots, Wheeler said. The vaccine becomes fully effective within about two weeks of being administered.
At UAMS Medical Center in Little Rock, Dr. Rawle Seupaul said he has yet to see a decline in the number of patients with flu symptoms visiting the hospital's emergency room.
About 30 such patients go to the emergency room each day, making up 15 percent to 20 percent of its visitors, said Seupaul, chairman of the emergency medicine department at the university's College of Medicine.
Less than 1 percent of people with the flu end up being admitted to the hospital. The rest are sent home, sometimes with prescriptions, and told to follow up with their primary-care doctors, Seupaul said.
"At least from what I've seen, I don't think this is out of the ordinary for what we'd expect from a pretty strong flu season," Seupaul said.
A Section on 01/11/2018