New numbers show that positive influenza Type B test results are on the rise in the last few weeks.
New numbers show that positive influenza Type B test results are on the rise in the last few weeks.
Health departments in Dallas, Tarrant, Collin and Denton counties all report that Type B cases have increased recently. That is to be expected, according to a report from The Dallas Morning News, but it is happening earlier in the flu season than is typical.
Influenza Type B is typically milder than the more common Type A flu, which has been the predominant virus that has impacted people in North Texas in recent months. 60 people have died from complications related to the flu locally, including 43 people in Dallas County.
In Dallas County, positive influenza Type B tests rose from 272 in the first week of the New Year to 415 last week.
In Tarrant County, those same numbers rose from 170 during the last week of 2017 to 259 during the first week of 2018.
In Denton County, positive influenza Type B tests rose from61 during the first week of 2018 to 86 last week.
Collin County does not provide similar week-to-week figures, but noted in its most recent flu report that there were 141 positive influenza Type B tests last week, which is nearly a quarter of the 628 total positive Type B tests for this entire flu season.
