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While flu activity remains below the national baseline, in some parts of the country - particularly in the central and south central states - it continues to hang on, and the CDC is reporting signs of increasing activity again in both the Northeast and Northwest.
Community levels of influenza immunity are believed to be low, and with more and more people skipping face masks, and more social intermingling, the potential for seeing `out-of-season' respiratory outbreaks is higher than usual.Normally by April 1st, flu season is about over, or has shifted over to a spring wave of Influenza B. But after two years of pandemic mitigation - and record low levels of flu transmission - `normal' remains elusive.
Last week, in The Lancet: SARS-CoV-2 Co-infection With Influenza Viruses, RSV, or Adenoviruses we saw evidence that coinfection among hospitalized patients is linked to a four-fold increased risk of requiring mechanical ventilation, and a roughly doubled risk for death.
According to this week's FluView, of the more than 9000 positive flu samples that were also tested for SARS-CoV-2, 5.4% were COVID-Flu coinfections. Since COVID Omicron is still circulating, albeit at lower levels than a couple of months ago, even a small increase in influenza activity could have a significant impact.
Key Points
- Influenza activity is still highest in the central and south-central regions of the country but appears to be declining slightly in these regions. Influenza activity is increasing in the northeast and northwest regions.
- The majority of influenza viruses detected are A(H3N2). H3N2 viruses identified so far this season are genetically closely related to the vaccine virus. Antigenic data show that the majority of the H3N2 viruses characterized are antigenically different from the vaccine reference viruses. While the number of B/Victoria viruses circulating this season is small, the majority of the B/Victoria viruses characterized are antigenically similar to the vaccine reference virus.
- The percentage of outpatient visits due to respiratory illness was stable this week compared with last week and remains below baseline. Influenza is contributing to levels of respiratory illness, but other respiratory viruses are also circulating. The relative contribution of influenza varies by location.
- The number of hospital admissions reported to HHS Protect has increased each week for the past eight weeks.
- The cumulative hospitalization rate in the FluSurv-NET system is higher than the rate for the entire 2020-2021 season, but lower than the rate seen at this time during the four seasons preceding the COVID-19 pandemic.
- One influenza-associated pediatric death was reported this week. There have been 14 pediatric deaths reported this season.
- CDC estimates that, so far this season, there have been at least 3.5 million flu illnesses, 34,000 hospitalizations, and 2,000 deaths from flu.
- An annual flu vaccine is the best way to protect against flu. Vaccination can prevent serious outcomes in people who get vaccinated but still get sick. CDC continues to recommend that everyone ages 6 months and older get a flu vaccine as long as flu activity continues.
- Flu vaccines are available at many different locations, including pharmacies and health departments. Visit www.vaccines.gov to find a flu vaccine near you.
- There are also flu antiviral drugs that can be used to treat flu illness.
While this has been a relatively mild flu season thus far, it has likely claimed somewhere around 2,000 lives, including those of 14 children. With fewer people taking precautions for COVID, and a low level of community immunity, further increases in flu and COVID activity are possible in the weeks ahead.
