Flu infections surge across US as Trump downplays vaccination
The surge comes amid controversial US recommendations downplaying need for many vaccines
Flu infections have continued to climb across the US, with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimating at least 15 million illnesses, 180,000 hospitalisations, and 7,400 deaths so far this season.
CDC data released Friday shows a 10-year high in the rate of young children visiting doctors for flu-related symptoms.
More than 18 percent of doctor visits for children under age 4 are now flu-related, the highest rate since at least 2016.
“I have been watching the data over the past couple of weeks coming out and am concerned about the little kids and how sick we are seeing them come in,” ABC News quoted Anne Zink, an emergency medicine physician who works with Yale’s PopHIVE tracking platform, as saying.
Zink described crowded emergency rooms, saying, “We didn’t even have enough places to sit people in our lobby.”
About 7.2 percent of all healthcare visits are now for flu-like illnesses, defined as a fever with cough or sore throat, marking a record for this time of year, according to the CDC.
Eight more paediatric flu deaths were reported this week, bringing the total to 17 this season.
Last year, 289 children died from flu, with about 90 percent of them unvaccinated, CDC data shows.
CDC epidemiologist Carrie Reed told ABC News, “There’s a lot of influenza out there right now. It’s going to continue to be elevated for a little bit longer.”
The majority of infections are linked to a new H3N2 subvariant called subclade K, which has circulated globally since the summer and contributed to earlier spikes in countries like Canada and Japan.
Vaccinations
As of December 27, only 43.5 percent of US adults and 42.5 percent of children had received a flu vaccine, despite ongoing public health recommendations.
Doctors continue to urge vaccinations, noting that the current vaccine offers protection against severe illness, even if it is not fully matched to the dominant strain.
“We’re not out of the woods yet,” warned Dr Michelle Morse, acting health commissioner for New York City, which has seen some early signs of flu stabilisation but still reports very high levels of circulation.
The soaring number of cases comes amid Trump administration recommendations downplaying the need for many vaccinations.
In an interview this week, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. told CBS News that it might be a "better thing" if fewer children received the flu vaccine.