Icee Delgado, 9, gets a flu shot after getting her COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday, Nov. 11, 2021, at Riverbend Elementary School in Juneau, Alaska. from the Alaska Department of Health showed on Wednesday.that unusually high rates of flu and respiratory syncytial virus are filling pediatric units at hospitals across the state, and the weekly flu report indicates no change in the situation.
This season is unusually early and hard-hitting by historical standards; Alaska’s flu season typically runs from October through May, peaking in February, but the number of laboratory-confirmed flu cases began rising in late October and has already passed the February 2019 peak of the last pre-pandemic flu season.
“We know that the influenza infection rates were the highest early on in the Southeastern part of the United States,” McLaughlin said, “and then they gradually made their way westward and northward. We are the furthest west and the furthest northern state in the United States, and so it could be that the worst of the flu season is still ahead of us.”
“That means if you’ve been vaccinated, your chances of getting influenza infection — if you’re exposed — go down. And then if you do wind up getting a breakthrough infection, you’re typically going to get a milder infection that’s going to last a shorter period of time, and it will be associated with lower risk of hospitalization and death,” McLaughlin said.
Entertainment Entertainment Latest News, Entertainment Entertainment Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: AKNewsNow - 🏆 460. / 53 Read more »