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N. Carolina county official reports first flu death of 2018-2019 season



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BUNCOMBE COUNTY, N.C. (WLOS) — The Buncombe County medical director confirms that the county has had its first confirmed flu death of the season this week.

Dr. Jennifer Mullendore tells News 13 the person was elderly and did already have other medical issues.

She would not say if the person was a man or woman.

"Last year, we know, was a horrible flu season. It was horrible in the Southern Hemisphere. It came to us and was horrible up here," Mullendore said. "So, we're hoping it's not as bad as last year, but you never can tell."

Last season was one of the deadliest flu seasons ever.

It included more than 30,000 hospitalizations and 180 pediatric deaths linked to influenza, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Eighty thousand people died of flu last winter in the U.S., according to government records.

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