Influenza and RSV activity are both ramping up in the U.S. and Europe over the past week. CIDRAP has the news.
A communication published yesterday also found that the emergence of influenza A H3N2 subclade K “fueled a record number of cases in Australia this year and extended the season in both that country and New Zealand,” which may “portend a longer-than-normal season in the Northern Hemisphere.”
Flu cases are creeping up in the U.S., but “care-seeking for acute respiratory disease is low overall.” The CDC also reported that “wastewater concentrations of COVID-19, flu, and RSV are low,” but data from WastewaterSCAN showed high levels of COVID. RSV cases are on the rise in the Southeast, South, and Mid-Atlantic regions, and “emergency department visits and hospitalizations are rising among children aged 0 to 4 years.”
Meanwhile, in Europe, “flu activity rose three or four weeks earlier than in the previous two seasons, and the number of patients seeking primary care for respiratory disease is elevated in about half of reporting countries.” The U.K. set a record in the past week for this time of year in daily hospitalizations due to flu. Most countries in the EU are documenting “widespread activity of low to moderate intensity,” perhaps predicting what will begin happening in the U.S. soon.
