Joe Raedle | Getty Images Hospitalizations for the flu have risen to a decade high in the US with the Southeast being the hardest hit right now. Five out of every 100,000 people in the US were hospitalized with the flu during the week ending Nov. 5, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This is the highest hospitalization rate at the start of flu season since 2010, more than 10 years ago. But the percentage of patients reporting flu-like symptoms, a fever of 100 degrees or higher plus a sore throat or cough, is highest in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and Washington, according to CDC data. Flu activity is also very high in Arkansas, Louisiana, Maryland, New Mexico, New Jersey, New York and Texas, according to the CDC. More than 6,400 people were hospitalized with the flu during the week ending Nov. 5, according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services. About 54% of these patients were hospitalized in the Southeastern and Southcentral US Just over 2,000 people were hospitalized with the flu in the area that includes Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. More than 1,400 were hospitalized in Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. In the Southeast, the H3N2 influenza A strain appears to be the most common right now, according to Dr. Jose Romero, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. This strain is associated with more severe disease in the elderly and young children, Romero said. “There are also early signs of influenza causing serious illness in exactly those two groups of people this season,” Romero told reporters during a call earlier this month. Nearly 11 in 100,000 seniors were hospitalized with the flu during the week ending Nov. 5, while about 10 in 100,000 children under 5 were hospitalized, according to CDC data. The hospitalization rate for these age groups is about twice the national rate. So far this season, at least 2.8 million people have gotten sick with the flu, 23,000 have been hospitalized and 1,300 people have died from the virus, according to the CDC. Hospitals in the US are being hit by patients, especially children, suffering from the flu or respiratory syncytial virus. Romero said these viruses are likely increasing because immunity has waned as pandemic-era public health measures have crushed the transmission of these viruses. May children, as a result, are infected for the first time. Public health officials are also expecting another wave of Covid infection this winter. The CDC, the Food and Drug Administration and the White House have urged everyone who is eligible to get a flu shot and a Covid booster ahead of the holidays.
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