The coronavirus pandemic shut down the entire United States in the spring of 2020, halted the production of goods, sent millions of people to work from home, and wiped out a virus: the flu.
“Every flu season is unique,” Alicia Budd, an epidemiologist with AccuWeather’s Department of Influenza Disease Control and Prevention, said in an interview. “In fact, it helps us stay on guard. “
Australia is ending one of its worst flu seasons in five years. Australian health officials noted that flu cases were higher between two and three months earlier than normal, according to a recent AARP report.
“Flu viruses don’t really respect borders,” Budd said, explaining that, infrequently, a worse-than-average flu season in the southern hemisphere can simply mean disruptions in the northern hemisphere. Budd cautioned, however, that this is not the case, in some years, flu activity in the southern hemisphere is not a smart indicator of what will happen in the United States.
Looking back on the 2021-22 flu season, Budd said, flu activity began to reappear. Budd explained that the relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions in the U. S. UU. es one of the reasons why the number of flu cases has to rise again.
“I would definitely expect to see something more in the direction of what a general flu season is this fall,” Budd said. imaginable what to say at this point. “
Although the main points of the upcoming flu season have not yet been specified, doctors recommend getting a flu shot because it’s the most productive way to prepare for flu season.
“It’s amazing to get a flu shot,” WebMD chief medical officer Dr. John Whyte told AccuWeather in an interview. “The flu can be deadly, especially for the elderly. “
But making sure everyone is vaccinated is a vital step in preventing serious illness, hospitalizations and deaths. CDC’s goal for vaccinated adults compared to the year of influenza is 70%, but that 70% purpose applies to all adults, adding racial and ethnic groups. .
Vaccination rates for the other blacks were the lowest among the four teams specified in the KFF data, with only 42. 7% of those vaccinated. Hispanic Americans were the lowest group at the time, with a total of 44. 9% of Americans vaccinated.
Ensuring that other people on those racial and ethnic teams receive flu shots is one of the first tactics to decrease serious illnesses, hospitalizations and deaths, Budd explained.
“[The] CDC has a new grant program called the ‘Vaccine Equity Partnership,’ which budgets network partners at the national, state, and local levels to try to build vaccines and access wisdom across races. “and ethnic minority groups,” Budd said. The ultimate goal, of course, [is] to increase participation so they can enjoy a greater degree of coverage within their network. “
“We know that only a small percentage of Americans adhere to recalls. Since immunity declines over several months and the virus continues to mutate, chances are we [will] have a backlog of COVID cases in the fall,” Whyte said. COVID is going to be there for a while, and we love ourselves and our families. “