Flu patients increase rapidly in 7 U.S. states… Infection cases increase nationwide

The number of flu patients is rapidly increasing in the United States, putting health authorities on alert.

On the 17th (local time), the Associated Press cited an announcement from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and reported that “flu is rampant in at least seven states,” and that flu infection cases are increasing nationwide.

As of last week, the state with the most flu virus activity was Louisiana. In addition, the infection rates were high in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, New Mexico, and South Carolina.

In addition, cases continued to appear in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., which health authorities announced as flu hot spots earlier this month.

Additionally, the number of flu patients is increasing in New York City, New York, Arkansas, California, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas.

Alaska has also had a high incidence of flu cases over the past several weeks, but data was not reported last week and was not included in the latest release.

Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, said, “Continuing last year, the flu season started earlier this year than usual.”

The Associated Press explained, “Generally, the winter flu season peaks between December and January. However, last year, the epidemic began in October and this year, in November.”

Health authorities said, “Tracking of flu cases relies on reports of patients visiting hospitals with flu or similar symptoms. However, the actual number of infected patients may be higher as many patients do not get tested.”

Other respiratory diseases, including COVID-19, can make it difficult to identify the flu.

“A variety of indicators show that the flu is continuing to increase,” said Alicia Byrd, director of the CDC’s flu observation team. There are several types of flu viruses, but the strains that have spread the most so far this year are related to the relative number of hospitalizations and deaths among older adults, who are generally vulnerable to the flu. “It is low,” he said.

The CDC estimates that at least 780,000 people have contracted the flu since this fall, of which at least 8,000 have been hospitalized and at least 490 have died, including at least one child.

He then said that 35% of adults and 33% of children in the U.S. had been vaccinated against the flu this year, a decrease from last year.

However, the flu vaccination rate was higher than the vaccination rate for other respiratory diseases. The COVID-19 vaccination rate was only 14% for adults and 5% for children, and the RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) vaccination rate, which was released for people over 60 years old early this year, was only 13.5%.

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