An American nurse preparing for a vaccination. Good news
The Washington Post (WP) reported on 28 (local time) that the US newspaper The Washington Post (WP) reported that while the spread of the flu in the United States is not serious, it also fears the worst situation since the pandemic of the 2009.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there were at least 880,000 cases of the flu this fall, of which 6,900 were hospitalized. The number of deaths from flu has risen to 360.
The flu epidemic usually lasts from October to May of the following year and peaks between December and January, but this year the infections started about six weeks earlier.
“The data is disturbing,” said William Schaffner, a professor at Vanderbilt University and a member of the nonprofit National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID).
Currently, many patients are from the southern and southeastern United States and are spreading along the Atlantic coast.
Notably, at Houston Methodist Hospital in Texas, where the flu has started to spread since late September, the number of confirmed flu patients reached 975 on 20, an increase from 561 a week ago.
In addition to Texas, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia are seeing an increase in the number of people infected with respiratory diseases, including the flu.
Notably, the hepatitis A virus (H3N2), which is currently the predominant strain driving the flu epidemic in the United States, can cause significant complications in the elderly and those with underlying medical conditions, as well as in the young. stressed the WP.
“Even after recovering from the flu, the inflammatory response caused by the virus can persist for 4-6 weeks,” Schaffner said, warning that heart attacks and strokes in middle-aged and elderly patients could increase.
In the medical world, there are fears that the spread of influenza may be accelerated by an atmosphere of reluctance to vaccinate while ignoring quarantine rules such as distancing people after the COVID-19 pandemic (pandemic) that has lasted for more than two years.
According to data from the CDC, 128 million doses of the flu vaccine have been administered so far, which is behind 139 million doses in the same period last year and 154 million doses last year.
Cesar Arias, director of infectious diseases at Houston Methodist Hospital, said:.
