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Is it too late to get a flu shot? What to know as hospitalizations soar

Flu season arrived “significantly” early this year, and health officials are seeing increased levels of the virus spreading compared with what’s been typical for the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Hospitalizations for flu continue to be the highest we have seen at this time of year in a decade,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walenksy said during a media briefing on the status of respiratory viruses circulating on Dec. 5.

The latest data shows 19,593 flu patients were admitted to the hospital for the week ending Nov. 26 during the Thanksgiving holiday as part of about 78,000 hospitalizations so far, according to the CDC. What’s more is that the virus has proved fatal for 4,500 people, including 14 children this season, the CDC says.

For those who haven’t gotten a flu shot yet, it’s not too late.

“There is still time to get vaccinated to be protected against flu this season and its potentially serious consequences,” Walensky said. “Getting it now is certainly better than not getting it at all.”

Flu shot is a ‘good match’

The two main strains of human flu viruses seen during flu season are types A and B, according to the CDC. Type A can have more than a dozen subtypes.

The good news, according to Walensky, is that the flu shot currently being offered is a “very good match” to the influenza strains spreading in the U.S.

Even during seasons when the flu shot is an “imperfect” match to the strains in circulation, the vaccines have proved effective as officials have seen about a 35% decrease in hospitalizations, Walensky said.

Concrete data on the impact of this year’s flu shot will be available in the spring, according to Walensky.

To date, there have been at least 8.7 million people who got sick with the flu this season, according to the CDC’s published data.

One potential reason for the surge in flu cases this year is how people are getting back to their regular activities, including travel, after the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. William Schaffner, who specializes in infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, told CNN.

“Some of it has got to do with our behaviors in the past, having avoided flu and now opening up our lives to activities such as travel, religious services, getting together with families, going out to entertainment venues and doing all those things that take us into groups,” Schaffner said, according to the outlet.

This year’s flu season coincides with a spike of respiratory illnesses, including COVID-19 and RSV, Walensky said at the briefing.

If you’re wondering where you can get a flu vaccine, locations providing the shots can be found on Vaccines.gov here.

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