A 34-year-old Grayson County woman has died as a result of the flu.
Grayson County Coroner Joe Brad Hudson said the woman only experienced flu symptoms for two days before being found deceased at her residence by a family member.
“Apparently she had a new strain of flu that medical professionals are having trouble treating,” Hudson said. The State Medical Examiner’s Office said the woman died from the A/H3N2 flu strain, according to Hudson. She died on January 25.
Hudson recommends seeking medical treatment as quickly as possible after first experiencing flu-like symptoms, something the Grayson County woman did not do.
Hudson added that as far as he can recall, the woman’s death was the first flu death in Grayson County since 1991 where the victim passed away at home.
Health officials in Kentucky issued another warning late last week regarding the flu epidemic after 30 Kentuckians died in a recent one-week stretch.
The Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services says there were 1,023 new lab-confirmed flu cases from February 4 through 10; up from the 660 lab-confirmed cases reported the previous week. One-hundred-forty-four Kentuckians have now died due to the flu.
The 30 deaths are 10 more than what was reported the previous week, and it is nine more than the highest weekly death toll of 21, which occurred in two consecutive weeks in January.
Complicating matters, the Centers for Disease Control reports the flu vaccine has been only 36 percent effective this flu season.
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com or 270-259-6000
