Flu season hits Michigan hard as hospitalizations rise
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Flu cases are spiking in southeast Michigan, just as the holiday season ends and people are headed back to work and school.
The big picture: An unprecedented rise in flu cases comes as other sicknesses — such as the "winter vomiting bug," COVID and whooping cough — are slamming the United States this winter.
- It also arrives as chaos has enveloped the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with many questions about vaccination schedules for children.
Zoom in: At the Henry Ford Health system, which has hospitals throughout Metro Detroit, the flu positivity rate exceeded 25% for the past three weeks, peaking at 33% during the week ending Dec. 27, a spokesperson tells Axios.
- State data showed a concentration of December flu hospitalizations in southeast Michigan.
What they're saying: "I suspect with everybody going back to work and all of the children going back to school this week, we're anticipating probably seeing more cases to come over the next few weeks," said Whitney Minnock, a pediatric emergency room doctor for Corewell Health in Royal Oak, told Fox 2.
Driving the news: Cases of the flu remain elevated nationwide, according to data from the CDC.
- CDC data shows that there's been at least 7.5 million illnesses, 81,000 hospitalizations and 3,100 deaths from the flu so far this season.
- Many of these cases have been tied to "subclade K" — a variant of the H3N2 virus, which is a subtype of influenza A.
Experts and patients say subclade K is an example of the "super flu," referring to a strain that spreads quickly and rapidly, becoming more troublesome.
Reality check: Although subclade K is being associated with the term, there isn't an official "super flu."
- The term emerges every so often, typically when there's a more severe than usual strain of the flu circulating, experts say.
The bottom line: Andrew Pekosz, a virologist at Johns Hopkins University, recommends getting a flu shot for those who haven't.