YOUGNSTOWN, Ohio - Many Americans are spending the first week of the New Year in bed taken down by the flu in numbers you wouldn't normally see until much later in the season.

Those numbers are rising with the peak nowhere in sight and this year's strain appears to be especially nasty.

The local flu outbreak has prompted area hospitals to lay down some rules.

The Mahoning County District Board of Health reports widespread influenza. There have been 68 cases of influenza this season and 62 people have been hospitalized with the flu.

As a result, Humility of Mary Health Partners is asking that people who feel ill refrain from visiting patients in their hospitals.

No visitors under the age of 14 are permitted in the hospital. The practice of allowing one family member to stay overnight in a patient's room has been suspended and the hospitals are not allowing friends or families to stay in waiting rooms overnight.

The restrictions apply to all HMHP locations including St. Elizabeth in Youngstown and Boardman as well as St. Joseph Health Center in Warren and long-term care campuses.