Nearly 20,000 people were hospitalized with the flu in the U.S. last week, nearly double the number from the previous week, according to figures updated Friday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC estimates that flu has sickened at least 8.7 million people, hospitalized 78,000 and killed 4,500 this season. In a letter to state governors across the country on Friday, U.S. Surgeon General Xavier Becerra noted that flu and other respiratory viruses are putting “increasing stress” on the U.S. health system.
In a letter obtained exclusively by CNN, Becerra wrote that the Biden administration “stands ready to continue to support you with resources, supplies and personnel.”
Last month, children’s health leaders called on the federal government to issue a formal emergency declaration to address hospitals and communities as “respiratory illnesses in children, including respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza, and ongoing children’s mental health emergencies Worrying increase.” “Support.
The Biden administration has not yet declared a public emergency for RSV or influenza, but Becerra’s letter outlines how a public health emergency declaration for Covid-19 could be applied to address the combined challenges of Covid-19 and other respiratory diseases resulting in a more comprehensive address seasonal diseases.
“The government has exercised regulatory flexibilities to help healthcare providers and suppliers continue to respond to COVID-19. These flexibilities, while critical to combating the COVID-19 pandemic, can also help address your (including RSV and influenza) in the transmission of many challenges,” the letter said. “They’re still available to you and your healthcare provider because you both have them ready for flu, RSV, COVID-19 and other illnesses.”
For example, if a hospital’s staffing shortages are exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, it could use a waiver that allows for increased surge capacity or easier transfer of patients — even if patients require treatment other than Covid-19. Like flu or respiratory syncytial virus.
The letter also highlighted available funding, including $400 million from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to prepare for and respond to annual public health threats, including influenza and other respiratory diseases such as RSV, as well as data, analytics and other programming federal Government prepared resources. It also noted that the federal government is overseeing supply chains for critical drugs and equipment, and that federal health officials worked with the country’s governors last month as part of a meeting hosted by the National Governors Association.
“As your federal partner, we stand ready to review any request for federal medical assistance and assistance—including requests for medical personnel and medical equipment—working closely with you and local jurisdictions to assess appropriate need and availability to Identify resources,” Becerra wrote.
Influenza activity was highest in the South, with hotspots spreading from El Paso to southwestern Virginia. Respiratory virus levels are “high” or “very high” in all but six states, and seasonal flu activity remains “very high and continues to increase,” according to the CDC.
Nearly 17 out of every 100,000 people were hospitalized with the flu this season, a rate that typically occurs in December or January. Cumulative hospitalizations at this point in the season haven’t been this high in more than a decade.
The latest monitoring data may not capture the full impact of holiday gatherings because it only tracks back to Nov. 26, two days after Thanksgiving.
RSV shows signs of slowing across the country as the flu continues to rise, but test positivity rates remain higher than they have been in years, and cumulative hospitalizations are about 10 times higher than usual at this point in the season. After less than two months, this season’s RSV hospitalization rate is close to the overall RSV hospitalization rate for the entire 2018-19 season.
There is no vaccine against RSV, but health officials have urged people to get a winter flu shot and renew their Covid-19 boosters. With the holidays and flu season upon us, Dr. Anthony Fauci faced the possibility of an emergency this week.
“If it’s occupied like almost all ICU beds, there’s very little wiggle room in the ICU bed, which is not good for kids who have RSV and need intensive care. But it’s also taking up all the beds and have all kinds of other illnesses that need intensive care. Or there are no beds for children in ICU,” Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CBS’s Face the Nation Sunday. “So, if you’re in that situation, it’s close to an emergency.”
Nearly 20,000 people were hospitalized with the flu in the U.S. last week, nearly double the number from the week before, data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed on Friday.
The CDC estimates there were at least 8.7 million cases, 78,000 hospitalizations and 4,500 deaths from the flu this quarter.
U.S. Surgeon General Xavier Becerra said in a letter to the country’s governors on Friday that influenza and various respiratory viruses are “putting increasing strain” on the country’s health plans.
In a letter obtained exclusively by CNN, Becerra wrote that the Biden administration “stands ready to continue to support you with resources, supplies and personnel.”
Last month, children’s health leaders asked federal agencies to issue appropriate emergency declarations to alert hospitals and communities to the “alarming rise in childhood respiratory illness, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza, and the ongoing mental health emergency … …the “help” of the children.
The Biden administration has not yet declared a public emergency for RSV or influenza, but Becerra’s letter outlines how a general public health emergency declaration for Covid-19 could be used to address the combined challenges of Covid-19 and other respiratory illnesses. Trigger to more fully treat seasonal diseases.
“Authorities have exercised regulatory flexibilities to help healthcare providers and suppliers respond to COVID-19. These flexibilities, while important in combating the COVID-19 pandemic, can help address non-COVID-19 diseases as well as RSV and influenza transmission most of the challenges it faces,” the letter said. “They’re going to stay there for you and the healthcare providers because you’re all out there dealing with flu, RSV, COVID-19 and other illnesses.”