United States: According to an expert’s report, it seems like a maximum of the population in the US is infected right now, especially in Louisiana, where most people in the country are suffering from the virus.
More about the news
According to the CDC, through December 21, in two states, namely Louisiana and Oregon, the highest flu activity had been recorded in the United States.
The flu season this year in Louisiana is very active, based on the CDC’s Influenza Division’s weekly flu surveillance report. The health experts are seeing increases from even the previous week’s rate.
It is a situation doctors say they are witnessing at their facilities, including Children Hospital New Orleans.
What more are the expert reports stating?
According to Dr. Mark Kline, chief medical officer and physician-in-chief at Children’s Hospital New Orleans, “We’ve been full on our acute care and intensive care units with children with respiratory illness, and it’s been predominantly Influenza A and RSV so far this winter,” wgno.com reported.
“We haven’t seen very much COVID, fortunately, just yet,” Kline added.
Furthermore, as Amy Russo, an anchor of Good Morning New Orleans, stated, the flu is on the rise and has been taking a toll on adults.
Furthermore, as Russo stated, “I’d say the worst symptoms I’ve had so far are nausea and the swollen lymph nodes because it’s just unreal dealing with that.”
“Yeah, it feels like you’re fighting for your life, honestly,” she added.
Noting this, Russo was advised by a doctor to proceed and take the flu test as a way of confirming the flu diagnosis.
Furthermore, “The flu test came back positive, and [the doctor] recommended that I get some Tamiflu, take some ibuprofen, [get] lots of fluids and lots of sleep as well,” Russo stated, “So, I’ve been trying to do that the best I can.”
A year ago, the state’s flu cases were ranked among the worst in the nation, wgno.com reported.
According to Kline, the decline happened due to people’s low desire to get a flu shot.
“I understand as well as anyone, I think, that there’s a lot of vaccine fatigue out there after the COVID years,” as Kline noted.
“People are tired of hearing about vaccination. They think there are too many vaccines that are recommended, but this is one that really is important and should be given on an annual basis,” she continued.
However, as per Kline, it seems that their flu cases have not started reaching a peak; therefore, they expect this trend will continue for at least the next one or two weeks.