SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Following the start of the holidays, the rate of Influenza is picking up in most states across the U.S., including in Indiana, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The Saint Joseph County Health Officer, Dr. Michelle Migliore, said the most common type of flu that’s being seen in the county is Influenza A, particularly a strain called ‘Subclade K’, which was recently identified by the CDC in August and is looking to be very contagious.
“This virus just loves to set up shop and it’s much more catchy than previous viruses that we’ve had… it seems to be much more virulent or strong and it’s easier for people to catch, so it doesn’t take as much of… a viral load so to speak, you don’t have to inhale or breathe in as much virus,” said Dr. Migliore.
The Indiana Department of Health also has an Influenza Dashboard for the state that’s updated weekly. It was a week behind due to the holidays, but it showed Influenza-like illnesses were at a high activity level for the week ending with Dec. 20 and Indiana had seen a total of 12 Influenza-related deaths up to that point.
Dr. Migliore said a way to keep an eye on what’s building in your area is a wastewater tracker.
“People don’t realize we actually monitor wastewater for viruses… the wastewater is a great indicator of things to come so people will often be shedding the virus in their waste before they have symptoms, overt symptoms,” explained Dr. Migliore.
When thinking about what’s to come this flu season, Dr. Migliore was reminded of a call she got last flu season from a local emergency room doctor.
“He was just heartbroken because of the number of people coming into the ER that were very, very sick. His observations, personal observations, he was seeing a lot of Influenza, they didn’t have rooms in the hospital, they had to board them in the emergency room, and the sickest patients were those that did not receive the vaccine,” said Dr. Migliore.
Dr. Migliore said in Saint Joseph County last year, there were 24 Influenza-related deaths in just three months: January, February, and March. She said the flu season sees a spike following the holidays, with the worst part of the season typically occurring around those early year months. Dr. Migliore recommend getting the flu vaccine soon if you haven’t already because it can take up to two weeks for the vaccination to fully take effect.