Flu activity sharply declined for the second consecutive week in metro Atlanta but remains widespread throughout the state.
Health officials have cautioned that it's too early to tell whether the season has peaked or if flu activity will pick up again.
Even so, the recent dip is encouraging.
Throughout the state, 7.1% of patient visits to doctors were for the flu during the week ending Jan 11, the Georgia Department of Public Health said Friday. That's down from 9.5% of visits the week before and 12.2% in late December.
The number of flu-related hospitalizations in metro Atlanta has reached 1,019 his season, and the number of flu-related deaths in Georgia has climbed to 31. Eleven of those who have died were 49 or younger.
This flu season got off to an unusually early start, with sporadic cases cropping up in the state in August. Health officials expressed worry that 2019-2020 could be one of the worst seasons in years.
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Flu activity is still high in Georgia and 31 other states, including Alabama, Kentucky, Colorado and New York, according to the latest report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Influenza B, which often impacts children and young adults more than older adults, had been the dominant strain earlier in the season. Now, Influenza A is more prevalent strain in Georgia and many states across the country.
Limited testing data suggests this year’s flu vaccine is not a good match for Influenza B, which typically emerges later in the season. But it appears to be a better match for Influenza A.
Health officials encouraged those who haven’t gotten a flu shot to do so. It takes about two weeks after the shot for antibodies to develop in the body to provide protection against the influenza virus infection.
For people who get the flu even after vaccination, symptoms are often less severe, health officials said.
A CDC study, which looked at data from flu seasons between 2010 and 2014, found that vaccination reduced the risk of flu-associated deaths by half (51 percent) among children with underlying high-risk medical conditions and by nearly two-thirds (65 percent) among healthy children.
Grady Memorial Hospital has set up an emergency room trailer, known as Med-1 Mobile, for the third consecutive flu season to help handle high patient volume. The Grady ER is usually near capacity, and flu season tips it over.
Also, a separate mobile unit was brought in recently after a burst pipe caused a catastrophic flood in the hospital early December, requiring three floors be rebuilt.
Dr. Hany Atallah, chief of emergency medicine at Grady Memorial Hospital, said about 85 to 90 patients a day are being cared for in the Med-1 Mobile, which is designed for non-urgent patients. Of those, about 30 to 40 of them are for flu and flu-like symptoms.
Atallah was struck by the number of early cases of Influenza B. He said younger, otherwise healthy, flu patients seemed sicker than in years past.
“Our feeling at Grady’s emergency room,” Atallah said, is that “we take care of anyone who comes to the door. This [mobile unit] allows us to do it an efficient manner.”
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