Flu and the flu season

As flu season goes on, it is still mild and the flu vaccine is way better than the previous season according to health officials. However, that doesn’t mean that people can now rest the case, because flu is still working a little bit and the season is not expected to be its finest for few weeks that may be anytime in March according to the health officials of the CDC.  Just a week back, the flu activity rises a little bit and in a little rate too that is just faster than it was before according to an epidemiologist.  The doctor visits for flu previously rises from 2.5% of all the other visits to 3.4%. To this day, it is still mild with some rates of hospitalization along with low levels of flu related mortality, she added.

The flu season is a welcome change from the past year; it has seen a specific early yet horrible flu season.  At the same time last year, flu has been severe and it sends out thousands of people, more so the senior ones to the hospital to get immediate medical care. The same time this year, they had the peak yet its decreasing. Even if this year, flu has been mild, there were thirteen kids who died from flu complications. The mortality and survival rate of the people depends on how the flu season is if it is severe or mild according to the CDC. There have been forty to more than three hundred pediatric related deaths. This goes to show that the number of deaths among kids is quite low.

Flu and flu strains

If you will compare this from that of last year, the most typical flu strain going on the season is the H1N1. Just last year, there was the H3N2 strain according to Brammer. However, the H3N2 strain is still there, waiting for victims. It hasn’t gone anywhere, she added. There was a little of everything to this day.  Both strains are included in the flu vaccine, she added. But these years, there is a better shot that will match the vaccines given last year. The flu vaccine last year was just around 23% effective as a whole.  But the good news is that the primary facts show that the entire effectivity of the flu vaccine this season is around 59%.

That means that flu vaccine has lessened the risk of having to go to the ER because of flu by around 60%. Having a mild weather might be just a factor that affects the flu season, she added. However, it is just the only factor of a lot of people that may help in determining the range of the flu season and how severe it can be. Another factor is that how a lot of people were immunized due to the fact that they have been vaccinated. There were reports stating that certain states like California, Iowa, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Vermont and Arizona has widespread cases of flu, while the rest of the states are still having mild to low flu cases.