As the flu season is winding down in Iowa, Guthrie County Public Health reports seeing fewer cases this year.

Getting as many residents vaccinated as possible was a priority for the health department after their influenza numbers doubled the year prior. Last fall they held flu vaccine clinics in every school building in the county, as well as offering the vaccine at their office. Public Health Director Jotham Arber comments on this flu season, “You know this year we haven’t seen as many flu cases as we did last year and a lot of that has to do with the genotyping match of the vaccine with what’s out there and I think that it was a pretty good match this year. We still have seen flu cases and we still have people who are getting the flu still.”

The Iowa Department of Public Health has recorded 78 influenza-related deaths so far this season. In the 2017-2018 season there were 272 deaths. The latest flu report for the state shows that flu activity continues to decrease and the geographic spread is sporadic.