Nationally, we are seeing very high levels of influenza and, again, a growing wave of COVID-19 infections. A new variant of influenza A H3N2 called subclade K is driving some of this epidemic. Subclade K has already appeared in Japan and Europe and is more severe, especially in the elderly and very young.<\/p>\n
Last week, the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy reported 39,945 hospital admissions<\/a>\u2060<\/sup>, up from 33,301 admissions the week before. While numbers have varied some week to week, they have been relatively high. There have been 19 pediatric deaths so far this season. The CDC estimates that there have been at least 15,000,000 illnesses, 180,000 hospitalizations<\/a>, and 7,400 deaths from flu so far this season.<\/p>\n COVID-19 levels are increasing, and Respiratory Syncytial Virus and Pertussis are also circulating, causing considerable illness. On January 10, Mike Hoerger, Ph.D., a health analytics expert who runs the Pandemic Mitigation Collaborative<\/a>, posted, \u201cThere is now a 1 in 4 chance of exposure in a room of 15 people.<\/strong><\/a> Risk varies considerably by state. We are approaching an average of 5 infections per person<\/strong> since pandemic onset.\u201d This level of exposure has significant implications, given the millions of people infected, the toll of long Covid, and the quickly growing knowledge of long-term damage from infection. Note, too, that there is no curative treatment for long Covid and that 80% of long Covid clinics have closed<\/a> as of April 2025. At the same time, there are increasing work requirements for Medical Assistance, which many of these patients will simply not be able to meet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Nationally, we are seeing very high levels of influenza and, again, a growing wave of COVID-19 infections. A new variant of influenza A H3N2 called subclade K is driving some of this epidemic. Subclade K has already appeared in Japan and Europe and is more severe, especially in the elderly and very young.<\/p>\n Last week, the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy reported 39,945 hospital admissions<\/a>\u2060<\/sup>, up from 33,301 admissions the week before. While numbers have varied some week to week, they have been relatively high. There have been 19 pediatric deaths so far this season. The CDC estimates that there have been at least 15,000,000 illnesses, 180,000 hospitalizations<\/a>, and 7,400 deaths from flu so far this season.<\/p>\n