Chicago health officials are urging residents to get the influenza vaccine to keep themselves safe as the region and nation are seeing an uptick in cases.
“It’s been rising for the last month. As expected, we saw a little bit of a bump after the Thanksgiving holiday. We’re going to continue to see an even bigger bump after the Christmas holidays,” said Dr. Emily Landon, executive medical director of infection prevention and control at University of Chicago Medicine. “We are definitely seeing more cases than we do in a typical flu season at this point so more people are getting sick.”
Landon said people make the mistake of thinking the flu is not as bad as COVID-19.
“Influenza is pretty awful. It can really cause significant illness in the elderly. It can also wreak havoc with even young, healthy people,” Landon said. “Flu is actually really dangerous.”
As of Friday, visits to emergency rooms and hospitalizations increased from moderate to high across all age categories but especially for children from newborn to 17 years old, the Chicago Department of Public Health said.
The CDPH reported those who tested positive for influenza increased from 9.2% to 17.1%, as of last week. About 95% tested positive for influenza A, primarily the H3N2 strain.
“Vaccination is the best way to prevent it,” Landon said.
However, short of that, there are other measures people can take.
“Things like wearing a mask in crowded areas, especially public transportation, or if you’re flying on an airplane soon,” Landon said. “Flu can be spread not just by droplets but also by touch. Contaminated surfaces are a bigger problem.”
Landon said the H3N2 flu strain is much more severe.
“H3N2 is often worse, with higher mortality, more people getting sick. The vaccine isn’t quite as good at protecting people from getting sick. It definitely helps people avoid hospitalizations and severe outcomes,” Landon said.
Landon explained the virus continues evolve into subvariants that can lessen the effectiveness of the flu vaccine.
“Our vaccine doesn’t match quite as well as we would like it to. Now that doesn’t mean that the flu vaccine isn’t effective. It means it’s less likely to protect you from getting sick at all, but it is still going to be pretty good and your best option for preventing serious outcomes, especially if you have a compromised immune system, if you’re older, if you are pregnant, if you have young children,” Landon said. “It’s not too late to get your flu vaccine.”
According to Dr. Kiran Joshi, chief operating officer of the Cook County Department of Public Health, this is the second consecutive year for a severe outbreak of the flu.
“We know that last year we experienced a pretty severe flu season in suburban Cook County, including many ICU cases. It’s uncommon to have back-to-back severe seasons, but they can happen, particularly when vaccination rates are low,” Joshi said.
Joshi said the virus is really having an impact on young children.
“Flu can often start with kids and spread quickly to adults, especially during holiday gatherings,” Joshi said. “Flu is spreading very widely. Right now we’re seeing pretty steep, almost vertical growth curves across the country, including a doubling and tripling of the indicators that we measure like emergency room visits from week to week in Illinois.”
Joshi said it’s important for people to have a measured approach when it comes to the flu vaccine.
“Flu vaccines are just like seat belts. They’re not going to prevent every infection, but they significantly reduce the risk of severe illness, hospitalization and death, and that protection really matters,” Joshi said.
Joshi recommends those with the flu should stay home for at least 24 hours after the fever resolves.
Dr. Brian Borah, medical director with the Chicago Department of Public Health, said just a month ago, 1 in 20 flu tests were returning positive. Today, 1 in 5 are positive.
“One of the big factors is just that people get together. They get together indoors during the holiday season. That always presents an increased risk of transmitting viruses among people. The cold weather also has an effect. It makes it easier to transmit,” Borah said.
Borah said dismissing the flu as a minor ailment like the common cold is not wise.
“When we’re talking about actual influenza, it can be a very serious illness, especially among older people and among young children. This can be a very serious respiratory illness. It’s a virus, but it can cause a number of complications, including pneumonia and other things. What concerns us all at the health department every year is we just hope that people take this disease seriously, because it can cause very serious illness.”
Both the city of Chicago and Cook County offer the flu vaccine for free.
Michael Puente is a reporter and weekend anchor for WBEZ. Reach him at [email protected].
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