Flu cases have been high in Berrien County, just as they have been around much of Michigan.
Berrien County Health Department epidemiologist Sara Palmer tells us the CDC classified Michigan’s influenza infection rate as “moderate” just a few weeks ago, but now it’s classified as “very high,” the second highest rating. The health department has been following the situation.
“We don’t track individual cases, but we monitor things like emergency department visits, urgent care visits, outpatient visits for influenza-like illness symptoms, school absences, things like that, and we’ve definitely seen a very steep increase,” Palmer said.
Palmer says as of the week ending December 20, Southwest Michigan has recorded 95 lab-confirmed flu hospitalizations. The most vulnerable patients are the elderly, small children, and those with underlying health conditions.
Palmer says there is a new variant this year.
“So we do have a new strain of influenza A. It’s H3N2, which is something we see seasonally, but it’s changed just a little bit. So they’re calling it subclade K. It’s a subtype of the H3N2. It’s a little bit different, but it’s still doing what flu viruses typically do. It’s just arrived a bit earlier…For this influenza AH3N2, this new subclade K, there is some concern about vaccine effectiveness. However, our early data is showing that the vaccines will continue to prevent severe illness from this new subclade K strain.”
About 21% of Berrien County residents have gotten a flu shot this season, while the state rate is 23%. Palmer says those numbers simply aren’t high enough. She says doctors have reported seeing the evidence firsthand.
“This is getting pretty serious for people, pretty quick. And our local physicians, our medical director, he’s also an emergency department physician. He worked over Christmas, said he had a lot of flu patients and he admitted three or four of them to the hospital, just that shift.”
The Berrien County Health Department continues advising all eligible patients to get a flu shot because it could just keep them out of the hospital if they do get sick.
“Last year was a severe season, and we’d really like to protect people from that occurring again, so we just really want to stress the importance of vaccination to reduce that likelihood of severe illness.”
Palmer advises anyone who suspects they have the flu to see a doctor and to stay home from work or school. As for getting the flu shot, the health department offers it, as do doctor’s offices and many pharmacies.
