Salt Lake City, UT (KSL) -- Sixteen people have died from the flu this season in Utah's most populous county, health officials said Friday.
Each of the fatal cases involved adults ages 18 and older, according to the most recent Salt Lake County Health Department figures available, from Oct 1. through Feb. 3.
"We haven't been hit as hard as the rest of the country," said department spokesman Nicholas Rupp. "We're pretty much what you'd expect for this time of year in the flu season, so we're lucky that way."
The majority of the 610 people hospitalized with the flu this season are 65 or older, according to a report from the department.
Just 3 percent of those who ended up hospitalized with the flu in Salt Lake County had been vaccinated, according to the data.
Even though Utah's flu season has been more calm than in other states, Rupp urges Salt Lake County residents to get a flu shot.
"It's still a good idea to get a flu vaccine at this point in the year," Rupp said. "We've got two more months of flu season to go."
