While COVID cases remain a concern in Illinois, progress has been reported when it comes to quelling influenza, which is on the decline throughout the state.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday that seasonal flu activity remains high across the U.S., but is decreasing in most areas.
In the most recent week ending Dec. 31, nearly 19,000 people had been admitted to hospitals with influenza, which was a slight increase from the week prior at around 18,800 admissions. However, the week before that, which ended Dec.17, more than 20,700 hospitalizations were reported.
On a state level, Illinois was moved into the "moderate" category for flu activity the week ending Dec. 31 from "high" status, where it stood for the two weeks prior. Before that, Illinois saw a total of three weeks in which it was listed in the "very high category" due to an uptick in related metrics.
Experts caution that flu activity could increase in the coming days - as the result of a potential surge following holiday gatherings and travel.
“We anticipate that flu at the very least is going to kick up after all this traveling and all of these holiday get-togethers,” Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, told NBC News.
The dip in flu activity could also be the result of a reporting lag over the holidays, Schaffner added.
Local
Covid hospitalizations are rising nationwide, thought they aren't expected to reach levels seen last year when BA.1, the original omicron strain, spread rapidly, said Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious diseases physician at the University of Toronto.
He said a combination of population immunity — from either prior infection, vaccination or both — and a string of new variants that appear to be less virulent have made the virus less of a threat this winter.
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