Original title: Here comes the worst flu epidemic in a decade!Hospitalizations rise in the United States
China News Service, December 6 According to a report by US news site Axios at 5th local time, the worst flu in the United States in more than a decade has hit the health care system which is already on the verge of collapse due to the new epidemic of the corona and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
The flu has reportedly seen high or very high levels of flu activity in nearly every state.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of flu-related hospitalizations during Thanksgiving nearly doubled from the previous week and was the highest since the 2010-2011 flu season. Adults 65 years of age and older and children 4 years of age and younger are most affected, especially if they have underlying health conditions.
But about 40 percent of Americans said they don’t plan to get a flu shot this season, mostly because they fear the vaccine won’t work well or have side effects.
Public health experts say face masks and other COVID-19 precautions have largely contained the flu and halted its seasonal spread over the past two years. But when people go back to their pre-pandemic lives, it also makes them more susceptible to infection.
Last year, a team of researchers predicted a sharp rebound in outbreaks in children once personal protective measures are lifted, with researchers urging a robust “follow-up vaccination schedule.”
The CDC estimates that at least 8.7 million people have fallen ill, 78,000 have been hospitalized and 4,500 have died so far this flu season.
According to CNN reports, the Biden administration has promised to provide resources and staff to help the local health system cope with the flu wave, but is not currently considering declaring a public health emergency.
Between 2009 and 2022, flu hospitalization rates among African-American adults were nearly 80 percent higher than among white adults, according to the CDC. But during the 2021-2022 flu season, fewer than 43 percent of Black, Hispanic and Native American adults will be vaccinated.
In a letter to states, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra wrote that the federal government could step in to help a stressed health care system, such as by allowing waivers for understaffed hospitals to boost capacity to treat patients. or make it easier for them to transfer flu, covid or RSV patients.
