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Flu time of year is off to an unusually early start in the U.S. , with Southeastern and South Central body politic currently reporting the highest charge per unit of infection in the country , grant to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) .
" We ’ve mark that grippe activity is go to increase across much of the nation , " CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walenskytold NBC NewsThursday ( Oct. 13 ) .
Data hints that several U.S. states are already experiencing high rates of flu infection.
The CDC monitors for probablefluactivity in part by tracking the rate of doctor ’s visit for influenza - like illnesses in unlike United States Department of State and legal power , such as Washington D.C. " Influenza - like illnesses " let in respiratory illness that demand a fever plus a coughing or sore pharynx , so this metric may also catch illnesses due to thecoronavirusSARS - CoV-2 and respiratory syncytial computer virus ( RSV ) , for example . That say , sudden upticks in influenza - like malady provide strong hints as to where flu is circulate in the U.S.
Last week , between Oct. 2 and Oct. 8 , most State reportedrelatively low but risingoutpatient visits for flu - similar illnesses , according to the latest CDC Weekly U.S. Influenza Surveillance Report , released Friday ( Oct. 14 ) . However , Virginia and Louisiana reported a " moderate " charge per unit ; Tennessee , South Carolina , Texas , Georgia and New York City reported a " high " rate ; and Washington , D.C. , reported a " very gamy " pace .
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Nationwide , 1,322 patient were hospitalise with science lab - confirmed grippe infections last calendar week , hospital reported to the CDC .
" So we lie with that thisvirusis now diffuse out in the community already , " Dr. William Schaffner , a professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Tennessee , told CNN Health . " It ’s garner hurrying already . It look to me to be about a month too soon , " compared with prior flu season .
Among the flu specimen hoard last week , more than 95 % were influenza A viruses , the CDC report . A small number of those specimens underwent further genetical psychoanalysis , and of that sampling , most of the viruses were specifically witness to be the influenza A subtype H3N2 .
The seasonal influenza guesswork protects against four types of influenza virus , agree to the CDC : the grippe A subtypes H1N1 and H3N2 , and the influenza B Victoria and Yamagata lineages , which come to to branches of the influenza family tree . Influenza A(H3N2 ) viruses present the big challenge to the makers of the annual flu shot , mostly becausethe viruses mutate the fastestout of the flu subtypes included in the vaccinum . Typically , flu shots are less protective against A(H3N2 ) than they are against flu B and A(H1N1 ) viruses .
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It ’s too shortly to bed how this year ’s flu guessing will come against the circulating virus , but the CDC has begun collecting data point to facilitate determine the vaccine ’s effectiveness .
" While there are niggling information to date , most of the H3N2 viruses so far are genetically tight related to to the 2022 - 2023 Northern Hemisphere vaccine virus , " the CDC write up state ; that could be a promising wind that the vaccines will offer decent protection . " But there are some antigenic differences " — mean change in how the viruses count on their surface — " that have developed as H3N2 viruses have continued to evolve , " the CDC noted . If dramatic enough , such changes can help virus sidestep theimmune organisation ’s vaccinum - stimulate demurrer .
Whatever strain is pass around , however , grippe shots stay the best way to protect yourself and your community from influenza . " Vaccination avail forbid infection and can also prevent serious outcomes in people who get vaccinated but still get sick with flu , " the CDC report states . " CDC recommend that everyone age 6 month and previous get a influenza vaccine , ideally by the last of October . "
So far this season , " about 12 million influenza vaccine have been give in apothecary’s shop and in physician ’s offices , " which is a slighter lower number than had been dispense this time last year , Walensky told NBC News . " We do want to get people protected before they have grippe in their own residential area , " she said .
