Cases of respiratory illnesses, including the flu, COVID, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), are spreading rapidly across the United states.
The latest influenza report report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released Friday shows that, in the past week, over 20,000 people were admitted to the hospital with the flu.
In a story on the topic posted by Healthline, Carl Fichtenbaum, MD, of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the UC College of Medicine was one of several experts interviewed.
Fichtenbaum says influenza was abnormally quiet in 2020, 2021, and even throughout 2022.
In the late 2022 and early 2023 flu season, the virus came back with a vengeance, and triggered a surge in cases and hospitalizations, he says.
Flu-like activity is currently high in two-thirds of the country, which is greater than what the country saw this time last year, according to the CDC.
