The United States is one of only a few industrialized nations that have no national paid sick leave policy. (123rf.com)
ST. LOUIS — Influenza outbreaks popping up in Columbia, Missouri, and elsewhere in the U.S., along with a troublesome dominant strain, have health officials worried that this year’s flu season will be especially bad.
With COVID-19 cases also on the rise, the concerning omicron variant arriving in the U.S. and already-strained hospitals, experts are urging everyone to get vaccinated against the flu as soon as possible.
“If you haven’t gotten a flu shot, it’s never too late,” said BJC HealthCare’s Dr. Clay Dunagan during this week’s update by the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force. “This would be a really good time to do it before flu becomes transmitted more widely in our region.”
Influenza activity is still low, but so far, the influenza A (H3N2) has been the dominant subtype in people tested. The last time H3N2 was the dominant strain was the 2017-18 season, when influenza put 710,000 in the hospital and killed 52,000 people in the U.S. — the highest since the 2009 H1N1 pandemic.
So far this season, the percentage of emergency room visits in Missouri for influenza-like illness is already higher than it was for the deadly 2017-18 season, the Missouri Hospital Association warned its members this week.
Seven weeks into this 2021-22 flu season, 1.7% of reported emergency room visits in Missouri have been for influenza-like illness. During the same period in the 2017-18, it was only 0.87%.
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