CDC Reports Rise in Flu Cases, Millions Sickened And Thousands Hospitalized

According to the latest estimates, the flu has made millions of people sick and has hospitalized thousands of them across the U.S.

As per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 3.7-5.3 million individuals have been sickened due to the flu and about 32,000-57,000 individuals got hospitalized. The nation has lost about 1800-4,500 individuals since October.

“Influenza activity is going up, and we expect it to continue for many more weeks," USNews quoted Lynnette Brammer, leader of the domestic influenza surveillance team at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “The last flu season when B strains predominated was in 1992-1993”.

The U.S. is currently in its earliest flu season in more than 1.5 decades and its activity is largely driven by the viruses influenza B or Victoria which doesn’t usually emerge at this time.

The CDC has also reported about 19 flu-related childhood deaths among which 13 of them were linked to influenza B Virus and 6 of them to influenza A virus. The regional or widespread activity was also reported to have been doubled in the last couple of weeks with widespread activity reported by 48 different U.S. jurisdictions and high flu activity among 21 different states.

Flu Vaccine is key to preventing such fatal consequences

This year’s flu shot protected individuals against 4 different influenza viruses- two A strains, two B strains. It also protected against the Yamagata and Victoria viruses as well as the H1N1 and H3N2 viruses. Apart from the B/Victoria strains of influenza viruses, the H1N1 are the most common strains infecting the U.S. residents in this current season.

Some individuals think that the vaccine might not be very effective and end up skipping it. But even though the vaccine might not be so effective as expected by the CDC, it could still protect millions of people from getting the flu. And those who get sick despite being vaccinated, the illness is likely to be less severe. Experts highlight the importance of flu vaccine to prevent flu-related mortalities and complications. The vaccine can reduce hospitalization risk by 40%, and among the healthy children, it can reduce flu-related mortality risk by 65%.