Flu cases, hospitalizations both skyrocketing in Ohio
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Influenza is skyrocketing in Ohio for the first time in years and earlier than normal — suggesting the worst is yet to come.
Why it matters: This flu outbreak is the nation's worst in more than a decade, leaving nearly every state with high levels of flu activity, Axios' Adriel Bettelheim reports.
- Case counts are soaring everywhere from Arizona to Tampa Bay.
- The illnesses are crashing a health system already stretched to a breaking point by COVID-19 and, more recently, early-arriving respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
👀 Eye-popping stat: In the first week of December this year, 1,424 Ohioans were hospitalized with the flu — 35 times the most recent five-year average for the same week (about 40 people).
- That's also a 263% increase from the prior week's 392 hospitalizations, per the Ohio Department of Health.
What's happening: Flu season runs October-May. In the past five years, statewide activity has been highest between December-March.
- But this year's outpatient visits and hospitalizations have been climbing steadily since October. Early December's have already significantly dwarfed any recent years' peaks.
Between the lines: Public health experts say that masking and other pandemic precautions largely kept influenza at bay over the past two years, Bettelheim reports.
- The return to pre-pandemic life has left us "immunologically naïve" and more susceptible to infections.
Yes, but: Experts caution they still don't know a lot about seasonal viruses and continue to grapple with questions like how much COVID has weakened the public's immunity.
The bottom line: If you've got any face masks lying around, it's not a bad idea to pop one on before entering a crowded place.
- It's also not too late to get a flu vaccine, which should give you some protection at your holiday gatherings if taken soon.