- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
Seasonal flu numbers continue to climb across California, nation
Dr. Gary Pace, Lake County’s Public Health officer, said there is definitely flu in Lake County this season.
“So far, it hasn’t appeared to be particularly severe. No deaths from flu that we are aware of at this point,” he said this week.
Pace did not have any specific flu numbers for Lake County, and the California Department of Public Health said individual flu cases are not reportable in California.
The California Influenza Surveillance Program’s latest report on flu was released on Friday. It covers the period of Jan. 26 to Feb. 1, and tracks activity for the season beginning on Sept. 29.
That report shows that there have been above-expected levels for flu hospitalizations and outpatient cases, with 87 outbreaks and 266 deaths since the end of September.
The number of deaths has risen 55 from the previous report, for the period ended Jan. 25.
Of the total number of deaths in California since September, nine are pediatric cases, state health officials reported. The Centers for Disease Control said the nationwide number of influenza-associated pediatric deaths for the season so far is 78.
On a national level, the CDC said that 47 jurisdictions – including 45 states, along with Puerto Rico and New York City – have reported high incidences of influenza-like illness, or ILI, as of Feb. 1, with visits to health care providers as a result of ILI rising to 6.7 percent from 6 percent the previous week.
The CDC estimates that so far this flu season there have been at least 22 million flu illnesses nationwide, with 210,000 hospitalizations and 12,000 deaths from flu.
The California Influenza Surveillance Program report says that flu activity remains elevated in California, with the predominant viruses being the Flu A (H1)pdm09 viruses, although Flu B (Victoria) viruses are still circulating.
The CDC said influenza A and B viruses cause seasonal flu epidemics almost every winter in the United States.
Influenza A viruses are the only influenza viruses known to cause flu pandemics, or global epidemics, of the illness, the CDC reported.
The pdm09 version of the virus is the same as the flu virus that emerged in the spring of 2009 and caused a flu pandemic, and since then has continued to circulate seasonally with relatively small genetic changes and changes to their antigenic properties occurring since then, the CDC said.
Hospitalizations related to ILI nationwide are 35.5 per 100,000, an overall rate which the CDC said is similar to this time of year in recent flu seasons.
The percentage of deaths attributed to pneumonia and influenza is 7.1 percent, a rate which the CDC termed as low.
The California Influenza Surveillance Program reported that, to date, more flu deaths in California have occurred among persons who are age 65 or older, 61.3 percent, than
among persons aged 65 or younger, 38.7 percent, during the 2019–2020 influenza season.
The report said that the percentage of deaths occurring among persons younger than age 65 is consistent with other seasons during which influenza viruses other than influenza A (H3N2) have circulated in greater numbers, such as the 2015-2016 and 2018-2019 seasons.
While flu is widespread, state health officials report that it’s not too late to be vaccinated.
The CDC said flu vaccine effectiveness estimates will be available later this month, but that agency also said that vaccination is always the best way to prevent flu and its potentially serious complications.
Health officials said that everyone above age 6 months needs to have a flu shot.
Pregnant women, children under age 5, adults age 65 and above and people with chronic conditions are at high risk for flu-related complications.
To find out more about where you can be vaccinated, visit https://vaccinefinder.org/.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.