Across the U.S., flu continues to spread, with all but four states showing “high” or “very high” levels of activity.
Dr. Gavin Harris, an infectious diseases and critical care specialist with Emory Healthcare in Atlanta, said it’s because of “a combination of factors that has unfortunately created this so-called ‘perfect storm’ of cases.”
Harris said a new flu strain called subclade K, a lack of natural immunity to it, along with lagging flu vaccination rates, are all working together to wreak havoc.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that at least 11 million people have had the flu so far this season: 120,000 people have been hospitalized with it and 5,000 have died.
“We’re still about a month or so away from the typical peak of flu season, which occurs in February,” Harris said.
Because of that, Harris said flu cases are expected to continue rising along with common flu symptoms like fever, cough, body aches and fatigue.
He said doctors are seeing a lot of gastrointestinal issues like abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhea with this strain.
There are prescription flu antiviral drugs that can treat the illness, but they need to be started as early as possible.
“It’s not too late to get a flu vaccine,” Harris said. “This can be tremendously helpful and effective at preventing severe disease that requires hospitalization.”
The CDC recommends that everyone 6 months and older who has not yet been vaccinated this season get an annual flu vaccine.
The agency says approximately 130 million doses of the vaccine have been distributed in the U.S. so far this season.
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