Flu exercise may proceed to extend within the U.S. over the subsequent few weeks, in keeping with a prime flu epidemiologist on the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention.
“There’s lots of influenza on the market proper now,” Dr. Carrie Reed, chief of the epidemiology and prevention department of the CDC’s influenza division, advised ABC Information.
“We regularly see exercise proceed into the spring … I believe the truth is that it’ll proceed to be elevated for a bit bit longer,” she continued.
The CDC’s latest estimates point out that there have been at the very least 11 million diseases, 120,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths from flu thus far this season.
“That is probably a low estimate based mostly on the info that we’re seeing thus far,” Reed mentioned, including that the federal well being company sometimes publishes the decrease vary of the estimates.
A brand new variant that first emerged in the summertime, often called subclade Ok, has grow to be the dominant pressure, CDC information exhibits. Subclade Ok is a variant of the H3N2 virus, which is itself a subtype of influenza A.
Of the 994 flu samples examined since Sept. 30, almost all had been influenza A. Of these samples that underwent additional testing roughly 90% had been H3N2, CDC information exhibits.
“Subclade Ok has acquired some mutations within the virus that make it a bit bit completely different than what’s within the vaccine and what was circulating over the past couple years,” Reed mentioned.
Public well being specialists at the moment advocate that everybody ages 6 months and older, with uncommon exceptions, get an annual flu vaccine.
Though the present flu vaccine is just not an ideal match to subclade Ok, it’s nonetheless anticipated to supply some safety in opposition to the brand new variant and decrease the danger of great illness, hospitalization and loss of life.
Reed added that the brand new variant doesn’t seem like driving extra extreme sickness but.
“There are nonetheless advantages to vaccine, even when the virus [has] considerably drifted from what’s within the vaccine,” she mentioned. “We have not seen will increase in hospitalization and mortality but within the ways in which we’ve with [doctors’ visits], though that is one thing that we proceed to observe for as properly.”
For individuals who have gotten sick, there are medicines obtainable, often called antivirals, which will assist scale back the severity and size of sickness.
Reed mentioned for individuals who contract the flu and have the next danger of extreme illness, they need to search care early and communicate with their physician about receiving a prescription for flu antivirals.
She defined that flu antivirals have been discovered to cut back the length of sickness in addition to decrease the danger for extreme illness, hospitalization and loss of life.
Well being officers have harassed that it isn’t too late for individuals get a flu shot in the event that they have not acquired one but.
“There’s nonetheless time to get a flu vaccine,” Reed mentioned. “It does take a pair weeks on your immune response to choose up after vaccination, however that does imply there’s many extra weeks of flu exercise to learn from the safety of an influenza vaccine.”
