CNN
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A flu season that hit the United States early and hard is showing the first signs of slowing down in parts of the country.
For the first time this season, flu-related hospitalizations decreased week over week. The week following Thanksgiving was the worst of the season, but data released Friday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows flu hospitalizations fell 10% the following week.
Still, influenza activity remains high across the country, and this is not a sign that the flu has peaked. Like last week, all but seven states continue to have “high” or “very high” respiratory virus activity, according to the CDC.
The holiday season is also well underway and experts have warned that holiday gatherings might increase the spread of respiratory viruses.
As of December 10, the CDC estimates that there have been at least 15 million illnesses, 150,000 hospitalizations and 9,300 deaths from the flu this season.
The cumulative hospitalization rate this season is higher than it has been in more than a decade. And even with the signs of improvement, millions more have been infected in the past week and thousands have died.
Health officials continue to stress the importance of vaccination, especially as Covid-19 escalates once more and pressure on hospitals persists.
“We have the tools, we have the infrastructure and we have the know-how to handle this moment,” White House Covid-19 response coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha said Thursday.
Uptake of the updated Covid-19 booster and annual flu shot is lower than experts would like.
Only regarding 40% of adults and 46% of children have received their flu shot this season, well below the 70% target rate set by the US Department of Health and Human Services in the Healthy People 2030 plan.
The CDC also released new estimates of flu vaccine coverage among adults on Friday, which show that vaccine coverage among whites (45%) and Asians (47%) is much higher than among blacks (33 %), Hispanics. (28%) and Native Americans (26%). Coverage among pregnant women (44%) is significantly lower than it was in the past two seasons, and coverage in rural areas is lower than in urban and suburban areas.
Flu vaccination rates among the elderly are better, with 64% vaccinated this season, but still not high enough for a group particularly at risk of serious consequences from the flu. There have been regarding 88 hospitalizations per 100,000 people aged 65 and older this season, nearly three times the average hospitalization rate.
Children under 5 were also hospitalized for the flu 1.5 times more often than the general population.
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