The amount of acute respiratory illness causing Americans to seek healthcare is at a high level, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In an update issued on Friday, the CDC announced that in addition to Covid-19 activity increasing from low levels in most areas across the US, seasonal influenza activity continues to increase and is elevated across most of the country.
For Covid-19 rates, the CDC predicts that it will continue to increase in the coming weeks as it typically does during winter. Between the week ending on 21 December 2024 and the week ending on 28 December 2024, the Covid-19 test positivity rate increased from 7% to 7.1% across the US.
Meanwhile, influenza’s test positivity rate increased from 12% to 18.7% between that time period. Influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 and A(H3N2) were the predominant viruses reported, the CDC said.
Moreover, the rate of respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, positivity is considered “very high” in many areas of the country, particularly among young children, the CDC said. It added that the number of emergency department visits and hospitalizations are highest for children and hospitalization rates have increased among older adults in some areas.
Despite rates of acute respiratory illnesses driving people to seek healthcare being high, vaccination coverage for the three illnesses remain low. According to the CDC, vaccination coverage with Covid-19 and influenza vaccines are low among both adults and children. Similarly, the vaccination coverage for RSV vaccines remains low among adults, the CDC said.
Overall, the CDC said it continues to expect the fall and winter virus season to have a similar or lower peak number of combined hospitalizations from Covid-19, influenza and RSV compared with last year. However, the peak hospitalization rates from all respiratory viruses remain likely to be much higher than they were before the Covid-19 pandemic, it said.
As part of its fall and winter immunization guidance, the CDC recommends the seasonal flu vaccine and the 2024-2025 Covid-19 vaccine for everyone who is six months and older. The agency went on to add that vaccination is especially important for those who are at increased risk of severe disease such as adults 65 years and older, people with certain health conditions, nursing home residents and pregnant people.
The agency also recommends that people who are immunocompromised or 65 years and older receive another dose of the 2024-2025 Covid-19 vaccine six months after receiving their first dose.
Meanwhile, for RSV, the agency recommends the vaccine to protect adults who are 75 years and older, adults between 60 and 74 years old with certain health conditions, and those who live in nursing homes. Currently, older adults need to get the RSV vaccine once, not every year.
Last September, a study released by the Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center found that less than half of Americans planned to get their Covid-19 vaccine in 2024, and slightly more than half planned to get a flu shot.
