Official toll from flu climbs to 74

The death toll from a particularly bad flu season this year has climbed to 74, data for the week of February 11-17 from the Center for Disease Prevention and Control (KEELPNO) showed on Thursday.

The figures showed that 18 people died of flu-related causes in that period, an improvement from the 56 deaths recorded the week before that.

Of the 74 total deaths, 49 were men and 25 were women, aged an average of 68 years old. The overwhelming majority (97.3 percent or 72 patients) had contracted Type A influenza and just 2.7 percent, or 2 patients, had Type B.

KEELPNO added that of the 274 serious confirmed cases of flu recorded since the start of the season, just 14 percent concerned patients who had been vaccinated against the infectious disease.