(Headline USA) The U.S. flu season has arrived on schedule after taking a year off, with flu hospitalizations rising and two child deaths reported.
Last year’s flu season was the lowest on record, likely because COVID-19 measures—school closures, distancing, masks and canceled travel—prevented the spread of influenza, or because the coronavirus somehow pushed aside other viruses.
Alternatively, some have speculated that because COVID diagnoses were incentivized with extra government funding, many hospitals and other cash-strapped medical facilities simply lumped in flu diagnoses with their COVID diagnoses, thereby inflating the menace of the pandemic.
With Democrat President Joe Biden holding the reins—and presumably taking ownership of the new spread—bureaucrats may now be seeing greater incentive to lower their numbers and create a false sense that the spread has been contained by applying rigorous standards to their COVID diagnoses.
“This is setting itself up to be more of a normal flu season,” said Lynnette Brammer, a registered Democrat who has been with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention since 1987, according to online records.
The childhood deaths, Brammer said, are “unfortunately what we would expect when flu activity picks up. It’s a sad reminder of how severe flu can be.”
During last year’s unusually light flu season, one child died. In contrast, 199 children died from flu two years ago, and 144 the year before that.
As of last week, the CDC had recorded only 790 total child deaths (ages 0-18) in the US due to the COVID pandemic.
In the newest data, the most intense flu activity was in the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C., and the number of states with high flu activity rose from three to seven.
In CDC figures released Monday, states with high flu activity are New Mexico, Kansas, Indiana, New Jersey, Tennessee, Georgia and North Dakota.
The type of virus circulating this year tends to cause the largest amount of severe disease, especially in the elderly and the very young, Brammer said.
Last year’s break from the flu made it more challenging to plan for this year’s flu vaccine. So far, it looks like what’s circulating is in a slightly different subgroup from what the vaccine targets, but it’s “really too early to know” whether that will blunt the vaccine’s effectiveness, Brammer said.
“We’ll have to see what the impact of these little changes” will be, Brammer said. “Flu vaccine is your best way to protect yourself against flu.”
There are early signs that fewer people are getting flu shots compared with last year, likely due to the intense distrust the public now has with health officials who have continuously flip-floped on their scientific determinations while consistently pushing for oppressive mandates.
With hospitals already stretched by COVID-19, it’s more important than ever to get a flu shot and take other precautions, Brammer claimed.
However, there is little indication that most hospitals are being innudated with COVID patients. Rather, many are short-staffed due to the COVID mandates.
“Cover your cough. Wash your hands. Stay home if you’re sick,” Brammer said. “If you do get flu, there are antivirals you can talk to your doctor about that can prevent severe illness and help you stay out of the hospital.”
