Jakarta, hitclubapk3 Indonesia
—
Three states in
United States
is experiencing an increase in cases
influenza
, which marked the first flu-related death of a child this season.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday (19/12) revealed that the hospitalization rate across states had jumped by 14.3 percent, or around 9,900 people, who were being treated for flu.
“Colorado, Louisiana and New York are the [states] that are seeing very rapid increases in influenza,” said Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health infectious disease expert Dr.Andrew Pekosz, on Tuesday (23/12), as quoted by Fox 8.
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Pekosz said the “super flu” or subclade K strain is spreading throughout influenza-affected regions.
According to the latest data on December 13, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Louisiana also recorded “very high” levels of flu activity.
The CDC also found high prevalence of influenza cases in New Mexico, Idaho, Michigan, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Washington DC, Connecticut, Maryland, and Massachusetts.
The agency explains this based on the proportion of health care visits due to influenza-like illnesses.
According to the CDC, laboratory test results found that around 89.8 percent of the 216 influenza A viruses collected since September 28 tested positive for subclade K.
Influenza A strains cause the most deaths in older age groups, not included in this year’s flu vaccine.That has some experts worried the strain could contribute to a particularly bad flu season.
Experts warn that the US is potentially facing its second consecutive severe flu season.
Last year’s flu season in the US was the worst in 15 years, with the highest number of hospitalizations and at least 280 child deaths from influenza.
Previously, subclade K triggered an early spike in flu cases in the UK, Canada and Japan, and dominated a bad flu season in Australia.
A report from the CDC shows about 42 percent of adults and about 41 percent of children in the US have received a flu vaccine this season.
The agency also again appealed to people aged six months and over to get an annual flu vaccine.
Public health experts emphasize that although vaccines do not always prevent all symptoms, immunization is still effective in preventing infections from developing into serious disease.
(rnp/dna/bac)
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