Colorado flu activity among highest in the country
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The country's worst influenza outbreak in more than a decade has left nearly every state with high or very high levels of flu activity, including Colorado.
Why it matters: This year's caseload underscores how pandemic precautions may have left us more vulnerable to seasonal respiratory diseases, Axios' Adriel Bettelheim reports.
By the numbers: Colorado is among 10 states with the highest level of flu activity during the week ending Dec. 3, per the CDC.
- 306 people in the state were hospitalized with the flu last week — a rate increase of 5.9% compared to the previous week, according to the latest state data.
- Emergency department visits for flu-like illnesses in metro Denver sit at 10.8% — about 9 percentage points higher than the seasonal baseline of 1.8%.
Threat level: Influenza is just one piece of the tripledemic puzzle that includes new strains of COVID and record levels of RSV. Colorado has seen more RSV hospitalizations in the first two months of this flu season compared to all of last season, officials report.
- Experts warn the outbreaks are likely to worsen over the Christmas and New Year holidays.
Be smart: It's not too late to get a flu shot. A jab now should give you protection by the holidays.
- 1.68 million Coloradans have received their flu shots, up about 1.3% since the same time last year, state data shows.