The flu has hit California so hard this season, pharmacies have run out of medicine to treat it, emergency rooms are packed and the death toll is rising.

State health officials say that 27 people younger than 65 have died of the flu in California since October. That's compared to three the same time last year, The Los Angeles Times reports .

Health officials say there's no region of the state where people were being spared from the flu.

At UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica, the emergency room saw more than 200 patients on at least one day, mostly because of the flu.

"The Northridge earthquake was the last time we saw over 200 patients," Ghurabi said, citing the 1994 disaster that killed dozens and injured thousands.

In San Bernardino and Riverside Counties east of Los Angeles, eme

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