The flu is hitting Butler County hard.

The state Department of Health says that there were 842 confirmed cases in the county as of Saturday.

That is just about double the 442 cases reported only three weeks ago on Dec. 27.

Statewide, there are 25,201 cases reported by now. Back on Dec. 27, there were just a little more than 10,000 cases in the state.

The department said these figures only represent a fraction of all flu cases since most people do not go to the doctor or get tested.

About 600,000 to 2.4 million state residents, between 5 percent and 20 percent of residents, get the flu annually. Between 120 and 2,000 of those die of complications of the disease.