A sign advertising flu shots at a Walgreens Pharmacy in San Francisco, California on January 22, 2018. Since his flu season began last October, a potent strain of H3N2 flu has claimed the lives of his 74 Californians under the age of 65.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
A flu variant that hits children and the elderly more than other strains of the virus is now dominating the United States, setting the country up for a potentially bad flu season.
Public Health Laboratories found that 76% of more than 3,500 respiratory samples tested positive for influenza and analyzed for viral subtypes were influenza A (H3N2 ) was detected. .
According to Dr. Jose Romero, director of CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, H3N2 variants have been associated with more severe flu seasons in the past for children and the elderly.
“There are also early signs of the flu this season causing serious illness in exactly these two groups of individuals,” Romero said at a press conference earlier this month.
This season, flu hospitalization rates soared to their highest levels in a decade. Overall, about eight people in every 100,000 people are currently hospitalized with the flu, but the elderly and the youngest children are hit much harder than other age groups, according to CDC data.
The hospitalization rate for the elderly is 18 per 100,000, more than double that of the general population. The hospitalization rate for children under the age of five is about 13 per 100,000.
At least 4.4 million people have contracted the flu, 38,000 have been hospitalized, and 2,100 have died since the season began. Seven children have died from the flu so far this season.
Dr. Andy Shane, pediatrician and infectious disease specialist at Children’s Healthcare Atlanta, said:
Another influenza A variant, H1N1, is generally associated with less severe seasons compared to H3N2, Shane said. According to the CDC, H1N1 makes up about 22% of samples that test positive for influenza and are analyzed for subtypes.
According to the CDC, Virginia, Tennessee, South Carolina, Alabama and Washington D.C.
Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Kentucky, New Jersey, Maryland, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, and Texas also have significant respiratory illnesses, according to the CDC.
The CDC recommends that everyone 6 months and older get the flu shot. Her children under the age of 8 who are vaccinated for the first time should receive her 2 doses for optimal protection.
According to the CDC, flu vaccines are typically 40% to 60% effective in preventing illness, but still make sick people less likely to be hospitalized or die.
Public health officials are also encouraging people to stay home when sick, cover coughs and sneezes, and wash their hands frequently. Consider wearing a face mask.
