Flu Outbreak Continues to Plague Region
Overall cases are down, but numbers are still high by state health department standards.
By Hank Silverberg
CORRESPONDENT
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Virgina’s medical community remains on alert for the flu as the number of people getting sick from respiratory illnesses remains “high but trending down.”
Statewide, 9.6% of all those entering emergency departments for the week ending February 15 were diagnosed with the flu—down 1.6% from the week before but still considered “high” by health department standards.
And that figure does not include those diagnosed in doctor’s offices or urgent care facilities.
In the state’s Northwest Health Region—which includes the Rappahannock Health District (Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania, Stafford, King George, and Caroline)—the figures are much higher, with 23.9% of people coming into emergency departments being diagnosed with flu, COVID-19 or RSV. Both COVID and RSV represented less than 1% of diagnoses.
Virginia Health Department spokesman Logan Anderson says there have been four pediatric deaths (ages 0-17) from the flu so far this season. The Centers for Disease Control says it is the worst flu season nationwide since the pre-pandemic years of 2017-2018.
The state does not keep track of adult deaths, but according to the CDC, more than 19,000 people have died from the flu alone this season and more than 430,000 have been hospitalized out of the 33 million cases reported nationwide.
VDH has been encouraging people to get flu shots since the season started in October. The season runs through May 1, and the shots are still available.
Logan says the flu vaccine does not guarantee that you will not get sick, since there are several different strains of the illness, but the shots may mitigate the severity of the symptoms if you do become ill.
If you are sick, the state health department advises you to stay home, so you don’t spread the disease, and to wash your hands more frequently and avoid touching your nose, mouth, and eyes.
The CDC defines influenza as “a contagious respiratory illness that affects the nose, throat and sometimes the lungs.”
Symptoms can include fever, chills, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, muscle or body aches, headaches, fatigue and sometimes vomiting or diarrhea, which are more common in children.
While the latest statistics show a downward trend in the number of cases statewide, there is no way of knowing if the downward trend is long term or temporary.
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