Experts are expecting a bad flu season this year, though rates of infection in Texas are still classified as moderate.
Cities across the country are being hit with a new variant of influenza, which some are calling a “super flu.”
Dr. Catherine Troisi, professor of epidemiology at UT Health Houston School of Public Health, said infection rates have already spiked in places like New York.
Troisi said there are three reasons why she expects this flu season to be bad.
“One is that the influenza A virus that’s circulating right now; it’s called H3N2,” she said. “This is a type of influenza A that causes more severe disease.”
Then there’s the “super flu” variant, also called subclade K.
“A subclade is, if you think about a family tree – viruses have family trees – this is like maybe your nieces and nephews. So it’s connected, but not quite the same,” Troisi said. “And this new subclade, people don’t have immunity to it and so are more likely to get sick if exposed. Also, it seems to be spreading faster. So far, we don’t think it’s causing a more severe disease than the parent virus influenza H3N2.”
Lastly, flu vaccination rates are significantly down this year. Troisi said that early testing in England, which was hit with subclade K earlier than the U.S., showed the annual flu shot was effective in providing some protection.
“The influenza vaccine is not the best vaccine we have. People can still get sick. What it does better is protect you against severe disease and hospitalization,” she said. “And another thing to remember if you haven’t gotten your flu shot: It is not too late.”
The number of flu infections are increasing each week in Texas, but Troisi said it hasn’t gotten as bad as other parts of the country here yet.
“We anticipate more influenza cases as we enter the holidays. There’s travel, kids are home from school, et cetera. People, at least in colder climates, are inside where you’re more likely to spread influenza,” she said. “But also, although most of the influenza we’re seeing is this H3N2, there’s another type that’s circulating, H1N1. The vaccine will protect you against H1N1 if that happens to be what you’re exposed to.”
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