“It’s been circulating since. This year, it’s the predominant strain,” said Dr. Sara Cody, a Santa Clara County health officer.
In Santa Clara County, a 41-year-old woman died on December 23rd and health officials say the medical examiner did a post-morten test to identify the H1N1 flu type.
“It died down for a while and then now you’re hearing about it.” said Donela Steiner of San Jose.
Flu is not unusual this time of year, but health officials warn that flu activity began accelerating in mid-December.
Statewide Friday, two other confirmed flu deaths from H1N1 included a 61-year-old woman in Sacramento County and a 28-year-old woman in Orange County.
The number of states with widespread flu jumped last week from 10 to 25 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control which tracks reported flu cases.
Dr. Cody says every year Influenza does cause deaths.
“36,000 deaths every year across the country from flu is the estimate. Many of those deaths are people over 65,” Dr. Cody said.