Influenza, or flu epidemics, are beginning to decline in some areas all over the United States After many hospitals reported irregularly high flu-related hospitalizations this season.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of flu-related infections is hospitalization A similar decline in the proportion of flu-related clinic visits for a third straight week was followed by a second consecutive decline.
Health officials said on Friday that 6.3% of outpatient visits last week were due to flu-like illness, down from 7.5% just a month ago.
A sign for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Headquarters is seen on August 6, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
(Nathan Posner/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
“This first wave of[flu’s]activity seems to have probably gone through the worst,” said CDC’s Lynette Brammer, leader of the CDC’s National Flu Surveillance Team.
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Despite weeks of declines, Brammer said CDC data showed “high to very high” flu activity in 45 states, so he cautioned people to be vigilant and observe health safety behavior. urged to do so.
“It’s not over yet,” warned Brammer.
Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University, downplayed the recent trend as observable but unpredictable. flu epidemic This season.
“Viruses love to make you look stupid when they’re predicting what they’ll do,” he said.
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Flu vaccines line up at the Blue Shield at the Community Resource Center of LA Care and California Promise Health Plan in Lynnwood, CA on Friday, October 28, 2022.
(AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Traditionally, the annual flu season begins in December or January and lasts for weeks or months until flu-like symptoms begin to dissipate in the general population.
However, the current flu season started in early November and is spreading with the epidemic. COVID pandemic Increased respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
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A sign urging people to wear masks at the joint Clark County and City of Las Vegas ISO-Q (Isolation and Quarantine) complex in the Cashman Center parking lot in Las Vegas, Nevada, April 13, 2020.
(Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
The CDC estimates that between October 1, 2022 and December 17, 2022, there will be between 190,000 and 400,000 hospitalizations and at least 12,000 deaths from the flu in the United States. These dead include at least 17 children.
“The CDC does not know the exact number of people who have become ill or contracted the flu because influenza is not a reportable illness in most parts of the United States,” the CDC said. “However, these figures are estimated using mathematical models, based on observed rates that have been confirmed in the laboratory. It is also an estimate of the number of people seen by a health care provider, hospitalized, or died as a result of influenza within a specified time period.”
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In 2021, the CDC estimates there will be 100,000 flu-related hospitalizations and 5,000 hospitalizations. death from flu in the United States
The CDC recommends that anyone who is at least 6 months old should get the flu vaccine.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
