EVERETT — It’s not only medical experts and proactive HR folks urging people to get flu shots.

Mattress-seller Stewart Patey has joined the ranks.

The 58-year-old Marysville man said he nearly died from complications of the flu last season.

“It went from flu to pneumonia to sepsis to ARDS (acute respiratory distress syndrome),” Patey said. “They put me in a drug-induced coma on March 13. I woke up on May 17.”

Patey never bothered with flu shots before.

“I refused to have them. I rarely had ever gotten sick. I just don’t have time to get sick. I work-work-work. I’m a workaholic,” said Patey, owner of five family-operated Mattress City stores.

He is still recovering from the ordeal and encouraging others to make time to get a flu shot.

“I got one this year,” he said. “Now I am very susceptible. I am doing the best I can to stay away from crowds.”

The 2019-20 flu season started earlier and with more intensity than last year.

“This flu season is rough, especially on the kids and those with underlying health conditions,” said Heather Thomas, Snohomish County Health District spokeswoman. “Getting your flu shot not only helps strengthen your immune system, but it also makes you less likely to spread the virus to others.”

In Snohomish County, 22 people from infancy to age 91 have been hospitalized this flu season, with no deaths reported. Last season, there were 26 deaths in the county and 362 people were hospitalized.

There were 367 new confirmed cases of the flu in the county during the one-week period ending Dec. 21, the latest figures released show, up from 249 the previous week.

Of the new cases, 306 were for influenza B, the strain causing the most havoc nationwide. Health officials track two main strains of influenza, designated as A and B.

Before the holiday break, 12 schools in the district had reported an absence rate of more than 10% because of influenza-like illness. A long-term care facility also had an outbreak.

Eleven people have died from the flu in Washington, including two children, so far this flu season. Seven were from influenza B and four from influenza A.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports about 4.6 million flu illnesses, mostly the B variety, so far this season. Of those, 39,000 required hospitalization and 2,100 people have died from the flu, including 22 children, the CDC said.

Already, 170.7 million doses of flu vaccine have been distributed, according to the CDC. Last year, the total for the entire season was 169.1 million.

It’s not too late to get a flu shot.

Andrea Brown: abrown@heraldnet.com; 425-339-3443. Twitter: @reporterbrown.