DUBLIN, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) — A total of 102 people have died of flu in Ireland over the last three months, said a health official here on Thursday.

This represented seven more compared to the 95 flu deaths reported in the country in the same period last year, according to Kevin Kellenher from the Health Service Executive (HSE), a government body responsible for all the public health services in Ireland.

Kellenher, HSE's Assistant National Director for Health Protection, said a total of 2,889 flu patients have been hospitalized since the breakout of the current flu season in December.

He said that the number of deaths this season is now expected to be at the top end of the normal range, adding that normally between 80 and 120 people die of flu every season.

He said that flu activity in the country has been at high levels for the past seven weeks, and it is hard to tell when it might end though the flu season would normally have been expected to be over at this stage.

The reason for the prolonged flu activity is not clear, he said, adding that the combination of the two prevalent strains may be a contributory factor.

Flu cases are mainly found in the people aged over 35 or below 15, said Kellenher, calling on people in at-risk groups to take vaccine as prevention against flu.