The United States is experiencing the highest levels of hospitalizations from influenza that it has seen in a decade for this time of year, the head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Monday, adding that 14 children have died so far this flu season.
CDC Director Rochelle Walensky added that U.S. hospital systems also continue to be stressed with a high number of patients with other respiratory illnesses such as respiratory syncytial virus and COVID-19.
"Especially for RSV and flu, these levels are higher than we generally see this time of year," Walensky told reporters in a telephone news briefing. She said flu season started earlier and "hospitalizations for flu continue to be the highest we have seen at this time of year in a decade." Vaccination rates for people at higher risk from the flu - those 65 and older, children and pregnant women - are also lower than at this time last year, Walensky added.
Between Oct. 1 and Nov. 26, the rate of hospitalization for flu in the United States was 16.6 per 100,000 people. In the past 10 years, the cumulative rate during the same week of the year typically range from 0.1 to 2 per 100,000.
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