Health officials are reporting a sharp rise in flu cases this season, which is shaping up to be more intense than in past years.
“We’re seeing a very high level of influenza-like illness right now,” said Dr. Larry Madoff, medical director for the Bureau of Infectious Disease and Laboratory Sciences at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. “We’re seeing early and large amounts of patient activity in emergency rooms, urgent cares, and hospitalizations.”
Here in Massachusetts, the state recorded more than 8,800 flu cases in its most recent weekly report from Dec. 21 to Dec. 27. In the previous week, there were about 7,200 lab-confirmed cases.
“It’s very concerning,” added Dr. Madoff. “We think things are still on the way up in terms of flu activity and the peak is not likely to be until late January or even February.”
One cause of the surge is a variant known as “subclade K” which was first reported in other countries and is now spreading across the United States.
“Evidence from England indicated that the vaccines remained protective against this strain, but nonetheless, it is able better to evade immunity so we think it causes widespread disease,” said Dr. Madoff.
Right now, flu activity in the commonwealth is categorized as “very high” and flu severity is marked as “high.”
“There’s quite a bit of flu activity at the hospital,” said Dr. Paul Sax, infectious disease specialist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “Many people who are coming in for evaluation who are getting tested for the flu turn out to be positive. There’s a positive test rate as high as 10% in people coming in.”
You can test yourself for the flu at home the same way you can test for Covid-19. If you are sick, you should stay home from work or school and wear a mask if you do have to go out.
Doctors are also reminding people that it’s not too late to get a flu shot to reduce your risk for complications from illness.
“It tends to make the flu illness milder. It doesn’t make it pleasant or fun by any means, but it does correlate with a more milder degree of illness so I strongly recommend the flu vaccine,” said Dr. Sax.
Brianna Borghi
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