COVID cases continue to be a concern in Illinois, but progress is being reported in taming the decline in influenza across the state.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday that seasonal flu activity remains high across the country but has declined in most areas.
About 19,000 people were hospitalized with the flu in the most recent week to 31 December. That was about 18,800 hospitalizations, up slightly from the previous week. But before that, he reported more than 20,700 hospitalizations in the week ending Dec. 17.
At the state level, Illinois moved into the “moderate” category of influenza activity for the week ending December 31, changing from “high” two weeks ago. Prior to that, Illinois was listed in the “very high category” for a total of three weeks due to increases in related metrics.
Experts warn that flu activity could increase in the coming days as a result of potential spikes following holiday gatherings and travel.
Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, told NBC News:
The drop in flu activity could also be a result of delays in reporting during the holidays, Schaffner added.
Dr. Isaac Bogotch, an infectious disease doctor at the University of Toronto, believes the original Omicron strain, BA.1, is not expected to reach the levels of last year when it spread rapidly, but hospitalizations due to Covid are rising nationwide. increasing substantially.
He said the combination of herd immunity from previous infections, vaccinations, or both, and an array of new variants that appear to be less pathogenic has made the virus less of a threat this winter.