Flu death toll climbs to 20 in Oklahoma

The Oklahoma health authority said Wednesday that eight additional flu deaths had been confirmed since last week, increasing the total tally in this flu season to 20, local media NewsOK reported. Figures from the State Health Department showed that 123 Oklahomans were hospitalized with flu over the last week, raising the total number of hospitalizations to 575 since flu season started in late September, said the report. Quite a few U.S. states including Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texas had been hit by widespread flu this season, mostly H1N1 virus. Earlier this month, Arkansas officials said at least 15 patients had died from flu-related illnesses. And in Texas, the death toll was even higher. Though there was no official statistics released by the state authorities, health officials at local levels continued to report daily increases of flu deaths. Officials confirmed in late December that at least 13 patients had died from H1N1 virus in Houston, Texas' largest city, and 20 more people had died from flu in north Texas as of Jan. 7.