![]() And this early start doesn’t suggest this flu wave will be a flash in the pan. These are especially worrisome signs given the health care workforce strain we’ve already seen during the ongoing RSV surge. About one-third of the people who’ve been hospitalized for flu this year were 65 or older, while another quarter were ages 18 to 49. And unlike RSV, which poses the biggest threat to the youngest and oldest, the severe disease flu causes is more evenly spread across age groups. Not all of those patients actually have the flu - many might have RSV or other infections - but in combination with the flu testing numbers, it’s worrisome.Īdditionally, more than five times as many people have been hospitalized for the flu so far this season than at the same point in any of the last 10 years. But right now, that number is up to 5 and a half percent, according to CDC. At this time of year, only 1 to 2 percent of patients in outpatient clinics generally report flu-like illnesses. When a higher proportion of tests are positive, that means more people who are feeling sick actually have the flu than in past years.Ĭoncerning signals are also coming from doctors’ offices and hospitals. More testing means more cases will get picked up.īut there are other signs that these numbers represent real and very scary trends.įor starters, a much higher proportion of flu tests are turning up positive than in previous years: During past bad flu seasons, test positivity has topped out around 3.6 percent, but last week, nearly 13 percent of flu tests were positive. Over the past five weeks, nearly twice as many flu tests were done at clinical labs nationwide as during the same period last year (about 460,000 versus 254,000). This year’s early and meteoric rise in flu transmission is at least somewhat related to the fact that more people are being tested for the flu than during previous years. ![]() That’s more than 12 times the number reported at the same time in 2019 (shown in the black line). As of November 5, nearly 14,000 positive flu tests had been reported, as shown in the orange line on the below chart. The latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) Flu View report show extraordinarily high numbers of positive flu tests reported to the agency from labs around the US. ![]() Flu season is here - and early red flags suggest it’s on track to be very, very bad.
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