It’s been an especially tough winter in Wisconsin and across much of the United States. But an illness common in cold weather has been mild so far. The seasonal flu has not hit the state or the country as hard as it did last year, which Wisconsin health officials described as “significant and strange.”
This year it seems Wisconsin has caught a bit of a break: not only is the vaccine more effective but the flu strains circulating are milder.
But health officials caution the season isn’t over yet. Wisconsin’s flu season usually peaks in mid-February but it’s expected to be a little later this year. That’s because there’s been an uptick in a more powerful strain of flu.
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“H3 viruses are more severe. They tend to hit the older population more. That’s what was predominant last year that caused all the problems,” said Thomas Haupt, influenza surveillance coordinator for the state Department of Health Services.
During the 2017-2018 influenza season there were more than 7,500 hospitalizations in Wisconsin and more than 900 people ended up in the intensive care unit. Some hospitals even put limits on visitation.
This year, far fewer are going to the hospital because of complications from the flu Haupt said, adding that about 600 people have been hospitalized so far this flu season. And because the vaccine is working better this year, it has kept nearly half of those who got the shot out of the hospital.
Overall, the number of U.S. deaths linked to the flu are much lower than last year when 80,000 people died — the highest number in decades. So far, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate between 11,600 and 19,100 people died due to the flu this season. It’s a number federal health officials say is relatively high considering it being a milder year with a vaccine that is 47 percent effective.
Right now, the flu is widespread across the entire nation and state health officials say it’s not too late to get vaccinated.
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