Influenza cases Ga. grow to “high” levels.

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Flu cases in Georgia have risen to “high” levels, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

In the most recent data for Week 50, which ended December 14, Georgia was one of the 15 states reporting ‘high’ or ‘very high’ levels of influenza.

“Everyone is sick. Everybody’s walking around coughing, hacking — it’s just spreading,” said Shanay Smith, a nurse practitioner in Georgia.

Smith said he has seen an increase in confirmed cases of influenza A and influenza B.

With holiday gatherings spreading many winter illnesses, we can probably expect more flu cases in the coming days.

In the latest report, 13 states reported high or very high levels of flu-like illnesses, roughly double the previous week.

“It’s been growing at a pretty steady rate now for the last few weeks. So yes, we are definitely in flu season now,” said Alicia Budd of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Georgia is one of the states with a high level. Cases are rated moderate in South Carolina.

CDC estimates for influenza activity in the US(Contributed)

Of course, there are a number of bugs that cause fevers, coughs, sore throats, and other flu-like symptoms. One is COVID-19. Another is RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, which is a common cause of cold-like symptoms but can be dangerous for infants and the elderly.

The latest CDC DATA shows that hospitalizations for COVID-19 have decreased since the summer. COVID-19 activity is moderate nationally but high in the Midwest, according to CDC wastewater data.

HEALTH AID

Symptoms: Is it a cold, flu or COVID?

Symptoms of COVID may include fever or chills, cough, body aches, headache, fatigue, difficulty breathing, and loss of taste or smell.
Experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say sore throat, sneezing, itchy or watery eyes, and runny or stuffy nose are less common with COVID-19.
Someone with the flu can have all of these conditions, but loss of taste or smell is more common with COVID-19.
When it comes to colds, fever or chills are not common, but you may have a cough, body aches, fatigue, sneezing, or a runny or stuffy nose.
In the winter months, even allergies can kick in, but they generally won’t cause fever or chills, body aches, or loss of taste or smell.

RSV hospitalizations started to rise before flu did and now show signs of possible decline, but remain slightly more common than flu hospitalizations. Overall, RSV activity is low nationally but high in the South, wastewater data show.

The CDC called the start of flu season based on several indicators, including laboratory results for patients in hospitals and doctor’s offices and the percentage of emergency department visits that had a discharge diagnosis of flu.

No one flu strain appears to be dominant, and it’s too early in the season to know how well the flu vaccine will do, Budd said.

Last winter’s flu season was taken into account “moderate” overall, but it was long — 21 weeks — and the CDC estimated there were 28,000 flu-related deaths. It was unusually dangerous for children, with 205 child deaths reported. This was the highest number ever reported for a conventional flu season.

The long season was likely a factor, Budd said. Another factor was the lack of flu vaccinations. Of the children who died who were old enough for flu vaccination – and for whom their vaccination status was known – 80% were not fully vaccinated, conformable CDC.

Vaccination rates for children are even lower this year. As of Dec. 7, about 41 percent of adults had received a flu shot, similar to the rate at the same point last year. The percentage is the same for children, but for them it’s down from a year ago, when 44 percent were vaccinated against the flu, according to the data. CDC data.

Vaccination rates are still lower against COVID-19, with about 21% of adults and 11% of children up-to-date.

Flu experts suggest that everyone get vaccinated.

“All those gatherings that are so delightful and fun and joyful are also an opportunity for this virus to spread from person to person,” said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University. “It’s not too late to get vaccinated.”