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Nearly 20,000 people in the United States were hospitalized for the flu last week, nearly doubling the week before, according to data updated Friday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC estimates that there have been at least 8.7 million cases, 78,000 hospitalizations and 4,500 deaths from influenza this season.
In a letter to the nation’s governors on Friday, US Secretary of Health Xavier Becerra notes that the flu and other respiratory viruses are “putting an increasing strain” on the nation’s health systems.
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 requested a formal emergency declaration from the federal government to alert hospitals and communities amid an “alarming rise in childhood respiratory illnesses, including respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza, along with the ongoing mental health emergency of… to support children”.
The Biden administration has not declared a public emergency for RSV or the flu, but the Becerra letter outlines how the public health emergency declaration for Covid-19 can be applied to address the challenges posed by a confluence of Covid-19 and others Respiratory diseases are caused to more comprehensively address seasonal diseases.
“The government has exercised regulatory flexibility 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 many of the challenges you face during the spread of non-COVID-19 diseases, including RSV and influenza “, says the letter. “They remain available to you and healthcare providers as you all remain available in response to influenza, RSV, COVID-19 and other diseases.”
For example, if a hospital has staffing shortages exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, it can use an exemption that would allow for increased surge capacity or easier patient transfers — even if the patients need treatment for something other than Covid-19. like flu or RSV.
The letter also highlights available funds, including $400 million from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to prepare for and respond to public health threats each year, including influenza and other respiratory diseases like RSV, as well Data, analysis, and other planning resources compiled by the federal government. It also notes that the federal government is overseeing the supply chain for critical drugs and devices, and that federal health officials worked with the country’s governors last month through 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 needs and availability to identify resources,” Becerra wrote.
Flu activity was highest in the south, with hotspots spreading from El Paso into southwest Virginia. All but six states have “high” or “very high” levels of respiratory virus, according to the CDC, and seasonal flu activity remains “high and continues to increase.”
There have been nearly 17 flu hospitalizations per 100,000 people this season, rates typically seen in December or January. The cumulative hospitalization rate at this point in the season has not been this high in more than a decade.
The latest surveillance data likely doesn’t reflect the full impact of holiday gatherings, as it’s only tracked through November 26, two days after Thanksgiving.
As the flu continues to rise, RSV has shown signs of slowing across the country, but test positivity rates are still higher than they have been in years and cumulative hospitalization rates are about 10 times higher than usual for this point in the season. After less than two months, this season’s RSV hospitalization rate is already approaching the overall RSV hospitalization rate for the entire 2018-19 season.
There is no vaccine for RSV but health officials have urged people to get their winter flu shots and updated Covid-19 boosters. With the holiday season — and flu season — underway, Dr. Anthony Fauci facing the possibility of an emergency situation this week.
“If you have very little wiggle room for ICU beds when you are occupied like almost all ICU beds, it’s bad for the kids who have RSV and need critical care. But it also occupies all the beds, and children with a variety of other illnesses that require intensive care or an intensive care unit don’t have a bed for it,” Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CBS’s Face the Nation Sunday. “So if you get into this situation, it’s approaching an emergency.”
