The flu is soaring in the South and rising elsewhere
A flu vaccine is readied at the L.A. Care and Blue Shield of California Promise Health Plans' Community Resource Center in Lynwood, Calif., on Friday, Oct. 28, 2022. On Friday, Nov. 17, 2023, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the U.S. flu season is underway, with at least seven states reporting high levels of illnesses and cases rising in other parts of the country.
By Mike Stobbe
NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. flu season is underway, with at least seven states reporting high levels of illnesses and cases rising in other parts of the country, health officials say.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted new flu data on Friday, showing very high activity last week in Louisiana, and high activity in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, New Mexico and South Carolina. It was also high in the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, the U.S. territory where health officials declared an influenza epidemic earlier this month.
“We’re off to the races,” said Dr. William Schaffner, a Vanderbilt University infectious diseases expert
Traditionally, the winter flu season ramps up in December or January. But it took off in October last year, and is making a November entrance this year.
Flu activity was moderate but rising in New York City, Arkansas, California, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. And while flu activity has been high in Alaska for weeks, the state did not report data last week, so it wasn’t part of the latest count.
Tracking during flu season relies in part on reports of people with flu-like symptoms who go to doctor’s offices or hospitals; many people with the flu are not tested, so their infections aren’t lab-confirmed. COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses can sometimes muddy the picture.
Alicia Budd, who leads the CDC’s flu surveillance team, said several indicators are showing “continued increases” in flu.
There are different kinds of flu viruses, and the version that’s been spreading the most so far this year usually leads to a lesser amount of hospitalizations and deaths in the elderly — the group on whom flu tends to take the largest toll.
So far this fall, the CDC estimates at least 780,000 flu illnesses, at least 8,000 hospitalizations and at least 490 flu-related deaths — including at least one child.
Budd said that it’s not yet clear exactly how effective the current flu vaccines are, but the shots are well-matched to the flu strains that are showing up. In the U.S., about 35% of U.S. adults and 33% of children have been vaccinated against flu, current CDC data indicates. That’s down compared to last year in both categories.
Flu vaccination rates are better than rates for the other two main respiratory viruses — COVID-19 and RSV. About 14% of adults and 5% of children have gotten the currently recommended COVID-19 shot, and about 13.5% of adults 60 and older have gotten one of the RSV shots that became available earlier this year.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
A genetic tweak could prevent mosquitoes from transmitting malaria
A new study reports on a novel way to short-circuit the parasite that spreads the disease so people wouldn't get infected with a mosquito's bite.
The Gulf States Newsroom is hiring an Audio Editor
This editor will build on our record of telling impactful stories for broadcast and podcasts that meet the highest editorial and audio-production standards.
Trump aims to get rid of AI regulations and finance exports to win AI race
President Trump says he wants to make sure the United States wins the artificial intelligence race. The White House says fewer regulations will help.
Meet the team behind the JCC’s witty sign
The sign hosts puns, Judaic references, and pop culture riffs. While the sign is well-known and appreciated among the community, its authors have remained anonymous, until now.
Israeli forces have killed over 1,000 aid-seekers in Gaza since May, the U.N. says
More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since May while trying to get food in Gaza, mostly near food sites run by an American contractor, the U.N. human rights office said.
Greetings from Moscow, Russia, where Lenin’s tomb attracts a new surge of visitors
Far-Flung Postcards is a weekly series in which NPR's international team shares moments from their lives and work around the world.