Colorado in the midst of big early season flu spike, El Paso County is part of the trend
Michael Logerwell
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) – At the beginning of December, flu cases in El Paso County were high, but not too out of the ordinary when looking at the past five years. Since KRDO13 reported on that December 6 data set however, flu cases have risen exponentially.
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El Paso County data comparing flu cases to RSV and COVID.
El Paso County data comparing respiratory illness cases in the current and previous years.
The latest influenza, or flu, data comes from Christmas week, which ended on December 27. In that week in El Paso County, 88 people were sent to the hospital because of the flu. That’s practically twice as many hospitalizations as each of the previous three flu seasons.
“The 791 new flu-related hospitalizations reported for the week ending Dec. 27 is a record for raw numbers of influenza hospitalizations reported in one week since we started tracking influenza hospitalizations in 2004,” said Hope Shuler, a spokesperson for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDHPE).
Colorado state respiratory illness data through the end of December.
The CDPHE says on the last full week of December, 791 people were hospitalized with the flu, which is a single-week record since the state started tracking the numbers. The only week that comes close was in December 2014, when 582 people were hospitalized.
The state health department expects the trends to continue, writing over email, “Hospitalizations to continue to increase in the immediate future as a result of recent holiday gatherings and return to school, child care, and work.”
Map from CDC
Colorado isn’t the only state that’s come down with the flu. New York, New Jersey, Louisiana, and South Carolina are all under the CDC’s label of having very high flu activity.
There isn’t one specific reason behind the nationwide spike, but national health experts have identified some potential culprits who could be contributing.
“[There’s] a number of factors. One, we’ve seen that vaccinations-there’s been about three million fewer doses given this year so far,” said Dr. Debra Houry, a former Chief Medical Officer at CDC, on CNN.
Another factor is a specific flu variant called subclade K, which wasn’t included in this year’s flu shot but has popped up in a lot of spots where flu cases have taken off. Specifically in Colorado, the CDPHE said, “The high influenza activity we are seeing this season is likely due to the emergence of a new strain of influenza A subtype H3N2, called subclade K.”
Vaccination data from CDPHE
Back to vaccinations, in Colorado, the gap is thin. Last flu season, 28.8% of Coloradans got the flu shot, compared to 27.5% this year, which makes for a difference of about 1.5%.
“We hope to close this gap in vaccination rates before the peak of the season, because the flu vaccine is the best way to help reduce the risk of getting flu and its potentially serious complications,” said Shuler. A big way the health department works to close the gap is by sending reminder texts and email messages to families of more than 225,000 children between 6 months and 5 years of age who are due for their flu vaccines.
To help flatten the spike, the CDPHE is asking people to consider these tips:
Stay home when sick.
Cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue or your shirt sleeve, not your hands.
Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol.
Avoid touching your face with unwashed hands.
Avoid close contact with others who are sick, such as kissing, shaking hands, and sharing cups and eating utensils.
Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces, such as doorknobs and mobile devices.
And above all else, the CDPHE recommends getting your seasonal flu vaccine.