Flu activity is accelerating earlier than usual
The U.S. flu season has begun with an unusually early rise in activity, concentrated first in the South and West. In its latest update, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that seven states had high influenza activity in the prior week, up from two a week earlier.
More than 3% of doctors’ office visits were for flu-like illness, a level that indicates the season is underway. California, Louisiana, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Washington were listed among the states with high activity.
Early activity alone cannot determine how severe the full season will become. But the CDC said influenza activity was higher than is normally seen at this point in the autumn, while the flu hospitalization rate in mid-October was the highest recorded that early in the season in more than 15 years, according to Dr. Anna Durbin of Johns Hopkins University.
Illnesses and hospitalizations are already mounting
The CDC estimates that flu infections have already been associated with at least 2.6 million illnesses, 36,000 hospitalizations and 2,100 deaths this season. Those estimates underline that the rise is more than a matter of increased testing or scattered local outbreaks.
Louisiana is seeing the most intense activity so far. Dr. Fred Lopez, an infectious-disease specialist at LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, said the season is taking off in a way likely to intensify over the next month or two.
Louisiana is often among the first states to experience a seasonal influenza surge. Lopez pointed to a combination of low vaccination rates, high poverty rates and barriers to health-care access as factors that can make the state more vulnerable.
Holiday gatherings could accelerate spread
The timing puts the increase just ahead of Thanksgiving travel and gatherings, when respiratory viruses have more opportunities to move between households and regions. Physicians expect flu and other respiratory illnesses to spread more readily as people spend extended time indoors and travel to see family and friends.
Health specialists quoted in the report emphasized vaccination as a timely preventive step for people who have not yet received a flu vaccine. Dr. Nicole Iovine, a University of Florida-affiliated infectious-disease specialist, said vaccination is especially important before holiday gatherings.
The early surge is a reminder that flu seasons do not follow an identical pattern every year. The current data point to a fast start in particular regions; they do not yet establish that the eventual national season will be worse than every recent season. Continued surveillance of office visits, hospitalizations and geographic spread will be needed to judge its trajectory.
What the early data mean
- Seven states reported high flu activity, compared with two the prior week.
- Doctors’ visits for flu-like illness exceeded 3% nationally.
- Estimated seasonal totals already include millions of illnesses and tens of thousands of hospitalizations.
- High activity is currently centered in the South and West.
For now, the CDC figures show an influenza season arriving early and gaining momentum. With major travel and gathering periods approaching, public-health attention will focus on whether the regional outbreaks broaden and how quickly hospital demand rises.
This article is based on reporting by Medical Xpress. Read the original article.
Originally published on medicalxpress.com
