Influenza spins – The Fresh York Times

This flu season was particularly brutal and shows no signs of release.

From October, there were at least 24 million cases in the United States. Disease control and prevention centers estimated that there were as many as 650,000 hospitalizations, which would make it do it The highest level of hospitalization from 2017. Many parts of the country report “high” or “very high” flu indicators.

The high number of cases is now striking, considering that this is the time of year, when FLU usually starts to sluggish down, said Dr. Susan R. Russell, medical director at the Medical Intensive Care Department at Northwestern Memorial Hospital at Chicago. But Dr. Russell said he was still seeing patients in the hospital patient with flu.

Dr. Donald Dumford, a doctor without infection at the Cleveland clinic, said: “A few weeks ago I said:” Oh, we reached the peak, he will start to pass. “

“And then I was cheated,” he added.

It is not completely clear why the current flu season was so sedate. Doctors said that vaccination indicators were not as high as they would like to see: about 46 percent of children and a similar participation of adults have so far received flu vaccination this season, in accordance with the initial data of CDC. Flu to reduce the risk of infection, and can also support reduce the spread of the virus to others.

And some cases can be a consequence of pandemic blockades, when the transfer of many popular viruses slowed down when people practiced social distance, said Dr. Russell. Our immune systems can continue to practice after they did not have to repel respiratory diseases at that time.

Some people are exposed to sedate behavior and develop complications from influenza infection. This includes people who are very adolescent or very ancient or have basic lung or neurological disorders. People with obesity, heart disease or high blood pressure are also an increased risk of sedate illness, just like pregnant women.

Visits to the Emergency Department related to flu have increased in recent weeks among children Under 4 years of age. Hospitalization indicators for flu grow among all age groups, but adults 65 and older ones go to the hospital in particularly high numbers.

Dr. Brad Uren, an emergency medicine doctor at the University of Michigan Health, said that his own child was at home diseased with flu this week. “This caused additional burden on childcare,” he said. “But knowing that this could have prevented other children to get diseased and bring him home to their grandfather – that’s why you do it.”

The flu season usually ends in May, which means that it is not too overdue for flu. (Just remember that starting antibodies takes a few weeks.) Vaccination can reduce the risk of hospitalization for flu, and it can do it Symptoms less heavy.

Doctors say that precautions in common sense – such as regular hand washing or wearing a mask in crowded, poorly ventilated areas – can also reduce risk. Fil the flu spreads through diminutive drops filled with a virus, which spray into the air, when the infected person speaks, sneezes, coughing and even laughs. These drops can adhere to surfaces such as handles and countertops, where they can infect people who touch them, and then touch their nose, eyes or mouth.

You should also stay at home when you don’t feel good to prevent potentially to spread the virus.

After exposure to flu, it usually takes the disease from one to four days. Sometimes people are contagious, starting from the day before the development of symptoms that may include fever, chills, coughing, headaches and muscle aches. Flight of influenza can make you feel destroyed and can also make your nose clog or suffer. People with flu are usually contagious for about a week.

Flu symptoms may seem similar to symptoms caused by a different viral infection: Covid-19. Fresh combination tests at home can support you determine which virus you have. And although Covid remains a threat, the United States has been experiencing the most correct winter virus wave so far. Preliminary data from the last week of January shows that a slightly larger percentage of people could die of flu than Covid.

“The dominant infection of the virus we see this year is flu,” said Dr. Russell.