If it seems like a lot of your friends and family are sick right now, it’s not just you.
Almost 9% of recent emergency room and urgent care visits in Vermont were due to flu-like illness, according to data from the Vermont Department of Health. Additionally, wastewater data reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows “very high” levels of influenza virus in the state.
While those rates are high compared to this time last year, they’re not out of the ordinary.
“It’s bad, but we kind of expect that in January,” said Dr. William Raszka, who studies pediatric infectious disease at the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington. “The typical thing is that we see this burst of activity over a short period of time, similar to what we’re seeing right now."
Unlike a few years ago, the virus that causes COVID is also circulating, and could be pushing up rates of influenza-like illness reported to the state.
“Now, there is this added burden,” said Laura Ann Nicolai, an epidemiologist at the Vermont Department of Health.
This year, vaccination rates across the state are slightly lower than normal: 34% of Vermonters received a flu vaccine this season, compared to an average of 40% in the past three years.
Nicolai said that lower vaccination rate could make a meaningful difference in levels of disease. Flu vaccine efficacy also varies year to year, but it’s too early in the season to know how effective this year’s vaccine is.
Regardless, she said it’s not too late to get a flu or COVID vaccine this season.
“Vaccine is the best protection against these illnesses,” Nicolai said. “We are still expecting to have several more weeks of increased activity for flu and for other circulating respiratory viruses such as COVID.”
Besides vaccination, it’s a good time to be vigilant about hand washing, avoid contact with people who are sick, and wear a mask if you want.
And if you do get sick with the flu, Nicolai recommends going to your provider to ask about antiviral medications that can reduce the severity and duration of your symptoms.
“Don't just stay home and suffer,” she said.
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