2017-2018 Flu Season Hits Hard in Brainerd – And It’s Still Not Over

The 2018 flu season hit hard all across the country, and although the virus is starting to fade out locally, it’s not completely gone. Essentia Health in Brainerd had one flu-related patient admitted to the hospital just this week.

Since the start of flu season, the hospital in Brainerd has seen 134 flu related hospitalizations, which is more than double from last year’s 52 hospitalizations. If you go back to the 2016-2017 season, the hospital only had 12 hospitalizations for influenza.

During this flu season, it was all hands on deck at Essentia Health since there was such a high volume of patients. In the video above, Kari Russell, Essentia Health Infection Prevention Specialist, explains how the hospital handled the extreme flu season this year.