For at least 39 Ashtabula County residents, the flu season of 2012-13 will be remembered as one that bite out of their lives, and, most likely, their paychecks.

According to information released by Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, on Wednesday, Ashtabula County had 39 hospitalizations due to flu between Sept. 30, 2012, and Jan. 19. Brown said the entire state had 3,081 persons hospitalized for the illness, a huge increase from last 2012, when there were fewer than 100.