What you need to know about the flu season so far in Massachusetts
The Bay State is seeing “plenty of flu activity,” according to health officials.
The severity of the flu season in Massachusetts kicked up this week.
The 2019-2020 influenza season in the Bay State was upgraded from low to moderate severity by the state Department of Public Health, with officials warning in their weekly flu report that flu-like illness activity increased from moderate to high, as of Jan. 3.
“The flu season in Massachusetts is definitely underway,” Dr. Larry Madoff, the medical director for the DPH Bureau of Infectious Disease and Laboratory Sciences, told Boston.com. “We are seeing high levels of influenza-like illness activity. It’s actually higher this week than it was any week last season. So we’re already seeing plenty of flu activity in Massachusetts.”
While flu activity is up, DPH is reporting that the percentage of hospitalizations related to the illness is down this season compared to the same period in years past.
Madoff said it’s hard to know if the trend of higher activity will continue as the season progresses or if Massachusetts is on track to see a season worse than last year. But typically the season doesn’t see peak activity until late January or early February.
Last year, a severe flu season stretched through May, with two strains of the virus being seen early and another coming late. It was really like two flu seasons back-to-back, Madoff said.
“Last year it was kind of level throughout the season but it was a very long season,” he said of the 2018-2019 season. “Every flu season is different. We really don’t know what’s going to happen, but we know that the activity is already high, so we at least are going to have a high activity flu season.”
Massachusetts, like the rest of the United States, is also seeing more of Influenza B, a strain of the virus that is traditionally thought of as causing a milder form of the flu.
Influenza B is typically seen late in the flu season, but, this year, it appears to be peaking early, Madoff said.
“We’re certainly seeing plenty of disease associated with it,” he said. “And on an individual level you really can’t tell if you’ve got Influenza A or Influenza B — they can both make you miserable and both can make you quite sick.”
Madoff urged Bay State residents to stay away from people who might have the flu and urged those with the illness to stay home to avoid exposing people.
“It’s certainly time to be aware of the flu,” he said.
Nationally, 27 children have already died from the flu this season, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The season could last well into the spring, and the health official emphasized it also isn’t too late to get a flu shot, which is the best way to prevent the illness, if you haven’t already.
“Flu is a serious illness,” Madoff said. “Adults succumb to flu quite often. We attribute up to 50,000 deaths a year to influenza in the U.S., so it’s not ‘just the flu.’ It really is a serious illness, and it causes complications particularly in those who are elderly, are very young, or have other medical conditions. But even in healthy adults it can cause severe disease.”
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