Hospital Visitor Restrictions Lifted as Flu Season Subsides

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Indiana University Health hospitals in Southern Indiana are lifting visitor restricts, as the number of influenza cases levels out.

Officials say the restrictions on hospital visitors were introduced due to this year’s exceptionally harsh flu season. Infection Program Manager for IU Health Bloomington says this year’s flu season was the worst she’s ever seen.

The Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) documents 278 deaths so far, during this year’s flu season. Over 200 of those deaths are from victims over 65 years old. Epidemiologists say they’re lifting the visitation restrictions on IU Health facilities in Bloomington, Bedford, Paoli and Morgan, as the number of infected cases they’ve seen levels off.

This year’s particularly harsh flu season was attributed by ISDH to a more resistant strain of the flu virus. Flu season usually lasts from late September to early May.