.png "Cases of influenza are starting to increase in North Texas, local doctors said, but aren’t above where we’d expect to be at this time of year.")
Cases of influenza are starting to increase in North Texas, local doctors said, but aren’t above where we’d expect to be at this time of year.
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Respiratory virus season has arrived in Fort Worth, and it’s infecting hundreds of North Texans with the common cold.
“The most prevalent virus that we’re seeing right now is still the common cold,” said Dr. Kara Starnes, medical director of Cook Children’s Urgent Care. The common cold is typically caused by rhinoviruses.
For the common cold, Starnes recommends the usual steps with dealing with respiratory viruses: Wash your hands often, cover your mouth when sneezing or coughing, and stay home when you’re sick.
While the common cold remains prevalent, cases of influenza are also starting to increase, said Dr. Brian Byrd, the director of Tarrant County Public Health.
“None of this is out of the expected increase,” Byrd said. “We’re tracking along right about where we normally do.”
Both Byrd and Starnes urged people to get their annual flu shots.
“We really want people to get a flu vaccine,” Starnes said. “The reason being, that prevents serious illness and hospitalization, especially for children.”
The good news, Byrd said, is that this year’s flu vaccine is formulated to protect against the predominant flu strain — influenza A (H3N2) — that is circulating. The bad news, he said, is that the virus has mutated since the vaccine was created. But, even with the mutation, the vaccine is still very effective for keeping people out of the hospital.
The number of children vaccinated against the flu has been steadily declining for the last several years, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As of the end of November, only 38% of U.S. children between 6 months and 17 years were vaccinated, compared to 48% at the same time in 2019.
Byrd said it was too soon to predict how severe this year’s flu season will be, but Starnes cautioned that the U.K.’s rough flu season could spell trouble for the U.S. if travelers spread the flu locally during the holiday season.
Other countries have also had rough flu seasons. Australia had its worst flu season in recorded history, according to an Australian doctors’ group.
Like the flu, RSV is also starting to increase, primarily in the pediatric population, Starnes and Byrd said. Respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, is a typically seasonal virus that is most worrisome in children under 5, and particularly in infants. It is the most common cause of pneumonia and inflammation of small airways in the lungs for infants, according to the CDC. There is an RSV vaccine available for adults age 75 and older and for pregnant women.
COVID-19 remains relatively quiet right now in North Texas.
Ciara McCarthy
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