IIt seems that almost everyone you know is patient at the present time, you are not alone. “I think we all know a person who got the influenza recently,” says Dr. Louis Osteroski, head of infectious diseases at Autheneth Houston.
The numbers again. At least 24 million people in the United States have caught the influenza so far this season, and this number only continues to climb, According to the data One of the United States Centers to control and prevent diseases (CDC).
Nearly 8 % of the medical visits to external patients in the United States registered during the week ending on February 1 were linked to respiratory diseases including influenza, which is among the highest percentage ratios documented by the Center for Disease Control over the past two decades, according to the agency. Data. Forty -five states and regions are currently witnessing the “high” or “high” influenza activity, according to the Center for Disease Control.
“This is at least bad like anything we have seen” in modern memory, “says Dr. Mark Rob, professor of infectious diseases at the University of Nebraska University.
It is difficult to say exactly why this. “The way the individual influenza season and Unrolls are a puzzle,” and everything is the specific viral breeds that revolve to the weather Factors in, says RUPP.
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Low vaccination rates may also contribute to this year’s patient season. As of late January, the absorption of the American vaccine was much lower than the center of the center of control of diseases of 70 % coverage, with about 44 % of us only. Adults and children to feed. This is equal with the last seasons of adults, but less than usual for children.
It is too early to determine the success of these shots in the United States, but the Center for Disease Control has been published recently Data from the southern hemisphere– Which has a former influenza season of the northern hemisphere, and therefore it is often used as an indicator of what will come – which indicates that this season’s footage provides only modest protection. In five countries in South America, vaccines have reduced the threat of influenza -related hospitals by 35 % among highly dangerous groups including young children, the elderly and people with basic health conditions, according to data.
“This number applies to the northern hemisphere, it will be considered a” bad year “for the effectiveness of vaccines. The Disease Control Center says that an estimated 310,000 people in the United States have already been transferred to the hospital with influenza this season, and at least 13,000 people – including 57 children – died.
Covid-19, on the other hand, led Relatively few cases and hospitals compared to recent years. This is probably because many people have immunity of residue after illness Long summer increase In the United States, Caitlin Rivers, Director of the Innovation Center for Puritors at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health. “We haven’t seen any new variables to change the game for a while,” says Refers.
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If you are sick, it is still worth testing or seeing the health care provider to determine if you have Covid-19, influenza, or anything else, says RUPP. (It was too Bad year for Norvirus.) There are antiviral treatments available for both flu and Covid-19But you have to know which virus you should know. These medications are also more effective when taking them early than a disease, as rivers notice, so do not delay the acquisition of care.
Regardless of what your test reveals, it is best to stay at home until you feel better, or at least wear a mask if you should be in public places. (With the presence of many diseases that revolve around it, it is also not bad to hide the concealment, especially in crowded interior environments.) Rob says: “No one wants you when you are sick.”
And if you don’t get a influenza snapshot yet, do not delay that either. Farper says he expects the influenza transmission to slow down in the next few weeks, but this does not mean “the bell will explode and will disappear immediately,” he says. “It slowly decreases over a month to two months.”
In fact, many influenza seasons begin with many cases caused by influenza A – which are currently the dominant type in the United States – followed by a smaller and more moderate bump due to influenza B in late winter or early spring. “Whether we see that this year is still completely unknown,” Rob says, but this is possible.
The bottom line? With months of the disease, it may still come, “it’s not too late for the vaccine,” says Ostroxky.
