By CRAIG FREILICH

The number of confirmed influenza cases in St. Lawrence County since the Oct. 1 start of the flu season has ballooned by two-thirds in the last 11 days.

By Jan. 24, 171 cases had been recorded in the nearly four months since the start of the season Oct. 1.

By Feb. 5 the number of cases had ballooned by 114 to a total of 285, a 66.6 percent increase in confirmed cases in just the last 11 days, according to Kindra Cousineau, communicable disease program coordinator for the St. Lawrence County Public Health Department.

Those figures come from results of tests ordered by medical professionals through hospital labs and reported to the county, and represent what just a fraction of total flu cases.

Many people with flu symptoms don’t see a doctor or visit an emergency room. And even if they do see a professional, patients might be diagnosed with flu and are treated for it, but no tests are ordered and the cases are not added to the confirmed case count.

Cousineau points out that the season probably still has at least a couple of months to go.

“It usually ends in April or May, but last year it went right through June,” she said. “It’s usually in the spring,” Cousineau said.

See our earlier story here.