Flu Numbers Rising in Kane County; CDC Estimates As Many As 3,300 Deaths Nationwide
The percentage of flu-related hospitalizations continues to go up in Kane County as the Centers For Disease Control estimates that at least 1,300 have died from the flu so far this season.
According to a CDC report released Friday, federal health officials said there have been at least 2.6 million flu illnesses this year and 23,000 hospitalizations.
Four new pediatric deaths were reported during Week 49, which ended Dec. 7.
A total of 10 influenza-associated pediatric deaths occurring during the 2019-2020 season have been reported to CDC. Six cases tested positive for influenza B; three of these cases had the lineage determined and all were B/Victoria viruses.
Four cases tested positive for influenza A. Two of these cases had subtyping performed and both were A(H1N1)pdm09 viruses.
Statewide Numbers Up
Illinois is seeing a regional spread. Flu is widespread in 23 states — Alabama, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Washington.
Kane County Totals
In Kane County, among five reporting hospital emergency rooms, 4.0% of visits were for influenza-like illness.
As of the week ending Dec. 7, there have been four influenza-related ICU admission reported to the Kane County Health Department.
The ILI absenteeism rate for public schools in Kane County was 0.27%. To date, no outbreaks of influenza have been reported in Long-Term Care/Assisted Living facilities in Kane County.
As you can see by the chart below, Kane County percentages of ER visits is as high as it was in 2009-10. The only season it was higher in the past decade during Week 49 was in 2014-15.
Some Flu Vaccines Better For Older Adults
A new CDC co-authored study published Thursday (Dec. 12, 2019) in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases offers more evidence that certain specially formulated flu vaccines may offer people 65 years and older better protection than standard-dose flu vaccines.
According to the CDC, people in this age group are considered at high risk of developing serious flu complications, yet vaccines may not work as well for them as they do in younger people.
There are at least three relatively newer influenza vaccine options that may improve vaccine protection among older adults, and this is the first study to directly compare the antibody responses from these newer vaccine options with standard flu vaccines among people in the same age group during the same influenza season.
During most seasons, people 65 years and older account for the majority of flu hospitalizations and deaths. In the United States, between about 70 percent and 85 percent of seasonal flu-related deaths and between 50 percent and 70 percent of seasonal flu-related hospitalizations have occurred among people 65 years and older.
This study randomly assigned older adults (65 to 82 years old) in Hong Kong to receive either a standard four-component flu vaccine or one of three specially formulated flu vaccine options sometimes called “enhanced” vaccines.
For the purposes of this study, enhanced vaccines include those listed below in order of how long they have been available on the U.S. market.:
- A high-dose three-component flu vaccine that contains four times the amount of antigen as a regular-dose flu vaccine so as to elicit a stronger response to vaccination;
- A three-component flu vaccine that contains a specially formulated adjuvant, which is an ingredient to boost antibody response to vaccination, and;
- A four-component recombinant hemagglutinin (HA) vaccine that involves cell-based rather than egg-based production and contains three times the amount antigen.
The study found that all three of the enhanced vaccines produced an improved immune response as measured by antibody levels against influenza A(H1N1) and A(H3N2) viruses compared to standard-dose vaccine.
For example, older adults who received a standard-dose vaccine had a 3.4-fold increase in antibodies to the A(H3N2) component of the vaccine following vaccination compared to a 4.2- to 4.7-fold increase among those who received an enhanced vaccine.
SOURCE: CDC, IDPH, Kane County Health Department reports
