With seasonal flu cases rising throughout the region, both of the area's hospitals experienced high patient volume in their emergency departments last week.

“It’s peaked within the last week,” Mike O’Farrell, spokesman for Lawrence + Memorial Hospital, said Friday. “We’ve had a very significant influx of patients presenting with flu symptoms.”

O’Farrell said patient volumes have been high both among outpatients and admitted patients.

At The William W. Backus Hospital in Norwich, spokesman Steve Coates said the emergency department there had a very busy week.

“We have seen an increase in the number of patients who have presented to the Backus Emergency Department with flu-like symptoms,” he said.

Numbers of confirmed flu cases were not available from either hospital.

Statewide, flu activity is “widespread,” according to the state Department of Public Health. Influenza A is the predominant strain of the virus currently circulating, the health department said.

In its most recent influenza surveillance report, the health department said that for the week ending Feb. 18, about 10 percent of all outpatient visits to doctors’ offices statewide were due to the flu. About 5 percent of all hospital admissions were due to the flu.

O’Farrell said the most serious cases are being seen in very young and elderly patients. Flu symptoms include: sudden fever, muscle aches, sore throat, dry cough, runny nose, headache, burning sensation in the chest, eye pain and sensitivity to light.

Since the start of flu season on Aug. 28, there have been 3,093 confirmed flu cases in Connecticut, according to the health department.

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— Judy Benson