 By 9 February 2018, the national rate for flu-like symptoms for patients visiting clinics had reached "well above" seven percent, a rate last seen during the H1N1 swine flu pandemic of 2009.According to the "Los Angeles Times", 163 people under the age of 65 had died of the flu since October 2017, compared to 40 deaths during the same time period the previous year.Of those 163 deaths, 36 had died during the first week of February; the same article also noted that the peak of the flu season has apparently passed as reports of new cases have declined.