Season's first flu case found in Erie County


Summer isn't over, but Erie County already has its first reported flu case.


An adult with Type A influenza was reported to the Erie County Department of Health on Monday, said Charlotte Berringer, R.N., the department's director of community health.


"It's the earliest case I have seen in my nine years of following flu," Berringer said. "Other than the year we had H1N1 (2009), when flu cases never stopped."


Flu season typically arrives in northwestern Pennsylvania between January and March and lasts for six weeks, though some flu seasons have occurred in the fall.


Monday's case doesn't mean flu season is imminent, Berringer said. Sporadic cases are sometimes seen outside of flu season.


"One case doesn't make a trend," Berringer said. "But this person had to get it from someone else."


It's not known if the flu strain reported was one of the two Type A strains found in this year's flu vaccine.


Three influenza cases not covered in the current vaccine were reported in southwestern Pennsylvania in late August. No other cases have been found.


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