This flu season in New York is one of the roughest in modern times, with all-time records being broken for the number of flu cases and hospitalizations from the flu.
In one way this is like every other year, according to Onondaga County Health Commissioner Dr. Katie Anderson: a post-holiday season increase in flu cases.
So, what’s different this year? It’s the most severe flu season in over a decade, and it's hitting hospitals hard.
"Upstate, Crouse and St. Joe's are facing the highest numbers of patients that they've seen," said Anderson. "Upstate has broken census records for three consecutive days. And two of our three major hospitals have activated 'incident command,' indicating that they are seeing patient loads beyond what they can reasonably handle, and what their staff can reasonably handle."
For the week ending December 20, the state recorded 72,133 new flu cases. A week later, flu-related hospitalizations hit 4,596. Both are all-time records and indicators of a very harsh flu season.
“Clinically, we're diagnosing large numbers of influenza cases week after week,” said Michelle Ederer, Advanced Clinical Director for Drakos Urgent Care, which operates three urgent care facilities in central New York. “Many patients [are] presenting later in their illness, and are sicker than we typically expect this early in the season.”
Blame something called Subclade K for the fast rise and severe effects of this year’s outbreak. Subclade K is a branch of the H3N2 virus, which itself stems from Influenza A. Each year, experts create a flu vaccine based on their forecasts of which of the dozens of strains of active viruses will be the dominant ones. It’s not possible to make a vaccine that covers all of the strains. This year’s vaccine does not include protections against Subclade K, though this year’s vaccine may help people recover faster with fewer ill effects.
Another issue is the dropping rate of vaccinations. Only about one in four New Yorkers has gotten a flu vaccine this year.
“So the most important thing that you want to do is that you want to not treat this as a typical cold,” Ederer said.
She urges anyone who thinks they may have come down with the flu to contact their physician. Medication taken in the first two days of a flu outbreak can lessen the severity of the illness. But Dr. Katie Anderson said, try to avoid going to the emergency room if you can.
"These teams are doing, as they always do, an extraordinary job at an extraordinary toll with more patients than they should be contending with, when there are lots and lots of patients continuing to come in," Anderson said. "And some of them, as stated, are patients who really could probably manage their symptoms at home or with their primary care physician.”
Experts urge people to use the standard precautions for any flu season: Wash your hands, cover your face when you cough or sneeze, and consider using masks when in crowds. With one in every 80 New Yorkers having come down with the flu so far this season, Ederer said it’s safe to assume that someone in any large gathering has the virus.
