The flu is widespread in Colorado, but the virus hasn’t hit the state nearly as hard as some others.
Nationwide, confirmed flu hospitalizations and outpatient visits for flu-like illnesses both hit their highest levels since at least 2009. In California, hospitals have struggled with an influx of severely ill flu patients, and some parts of the country have reported seeing unusual complications, particularly in children.
Colorado hospitals admitted 425 people for flu in the week ending Feb. 1, which was the busiest week for flu hospitalizations since at least fall 2019. Still, it isn’t as bad as the 2017-2018 flu season, state epidemiologist Dr. Rachel Herlihy said.
“Influenza levels are very high,” she said. “We are not seeing as high levels in Colorado … as some states are seeing.”
Flu hospitalizations appear to be rising, so Colorado may face more in the coming weeks, said Dr. Bob Belknap, executive director of the Public Health Institute at Denver Health. But nothing so far suggests hospital capacity will be a problem, he said.
“We’re still in the midst of (the season), so it’s hard to predict where things might go,” he said.
No one knows exactly why flu hits some states harder than others in any given year, though the mix of strains circulating and vaccination levels could be factors, Herlihy said. This season is a bit unusual, because flu infections appeared to peak around the beginning of the year, then rose again more recently, she said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that about 29 million Americans have had the flu so far this season; 370,000 were sick enough to need hospital care; and 16,000 have died. The death total includes 68 children.
One child in Colorado has died from flu since the season started in October. The state doesn’t track adult flu deaths.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has asked hospitals to send more flu samples so they can look for avian influenza, but those haven’t turned up any new cases, Herlihy said. Nationwide, 68 people had confirmed avian flu, all but four of whom worked with poultry or cattle.
In some ways, this season is more typical than recent years, said Dr. Michelle Barron, senior medical director of infection prevention and control at UCHealth. In 2020 and 2021, flu almost disappeared as people took precautions against COVID-19.
“I think it’s all perspective,” she said.
Anecdotally, kids who get the flu seem more miserable from the symptoms than usual, though those with uncomplicated cases typically don’t go to a doctor, said Dr. Hector De Leon, a pediatrician at Kaiser Permanente’s Fort Collins location. In some cases, kids are getting another viral or bacterial infection at the same time, he said.
“I think people’s symptoms are a little more pronounced,” he said.
Adults admitted for flu at Denver Health are about as sick as expected, Belknap said. Flu creates an opportunity for other germs to cause complications such as pneumonia, he said.
How severe each flu season is depends on many factors, but one thing that likely contributed this year is that fewer people got vaccinated, Barron said. Nationwide, vaccine uptake was down among children, people over 65 and pregnant women – all higher-risk groups.
The flu shot doesn’t prevent all illnesses, but significantly reduces the severity if someone does get sick, Belknap said.
“You’re less likely to get really sick and be hospitalized,” he said.
If other viruses were spreading widely right now, that could create problems for hospital capacity, Barron said. As is, though, COVID-19 hospitalized fewer people than in any recent winter, possibly due to immunity built up during a summer wave.
“We haven’t seen any issues with capacity,” she said. “If we were seeing higher amounts of COVID along with flu, that would be more challenging.”
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