COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCSC) - South Carolina health officials say the Palmetto State is one of two states with the highest number of flu cases in the country, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.
That word came Thursday morning during a briefing by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. The other state with the highest number of cases is Louisiana.
DHEC Lead Medical Consultant Dr. Martha Buchanan said the state has recorded 12 flu deaths this year. On Dec. 12, the state confirmed its first child flu-related death. The child, whose name, gender and age were not released, died in the Upstate region, State Epidemiologist Dr. Linda Bell said.
“So we can’t, as public health professionals or as a community of people make the mistake of not taking the flu seriously, and taking all of these other illnesses seriously seriously as well,” Buchanan said.
She said that while most people who get the flu, COVID or Respiratory Syncytial Virus will have mild symptoms and recover, some can become very sick and even die.
The people most at risk for the illnesses include infants, young children, older adults, pregnant women and those with chronic medical conditions.
“Complications can occur even among young and previously healthy people and can’t be predicted it can’t be predicted who will really suffer severe illness just by looking at the person,” she said.
She said that while flu season typically begins on Oct. 1, every year’s flu season is different. This year, the state surpassed its one-week percentage of people seeing their doctor because of flu-like illnesses compared with last year.
“We’ve also passed the peak number of hospitalizations from last year,” she said.
The active flu season coincides with ongoing COVID-19 cases and an elevated number of RSV cases. The same preventive methods that protect against COVID-19 also protect against the flu virus: vaccination, masks, frequent handwashing, and staying home or away from others while sick.
“We recommend that everyone six months of age and older who’s eligible to get vaccinated, get their flu vaccine even with all this flu activity,” Buchanan said. “It’s a good idea if you haven’t been vaccinated to go ahead and get vaccinated. It does take a couple of weeks for the vaccine to become effective, but it gives you some protection.”
DHEC has been urging vaccinations for people for all three illnesses, saying people are most at risk during the fall and winter months and especially at large holiday gatherings like Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
She said the agency does expect to see an increase in cases after the holidays since any illnesses spread during holiday gatherings could take several days to show symptoms.
Last month, DHEC and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended everyone 6 months and older get the updated COVID vaccine and the annual flu vaccine, if they had not already received them this fall.
She said the virus has continued to change over time, and DHEC continues to see new versions of the Omicron variant circulating.
“What we know now is that the updated COVID vaccine is thought to be effective for what is circulating now as far as COVID goes. The CDC continues to monitor this and will keep you updated if that changes. The current circulating COVID variant is spread in the same way previous variants have been spread through respiratory droplets and does not seem to be causing more severe illness,” she said. “But again, we’re a little early to be able to see that. We’ll again continue to monitor that.”
The best way to prevent hospitalizations and severe illness with COVID is to get vaccinated, she said.
Earlier this year, the Food and Drug Administration approved and recommended the first vaccine for preventing lower respiratory tract disease from RSV for adults 60 years and older.
“We’ve been seeing elevated cases of RSV this season,” she said. “An estimated 60,000 to 160,000 older adults in the United States are hospitalized and 6,000 to 10,000 died due to RSV infection each year. Those are kinds of staggering numbers. We don’t — I don’t think people take RSV as seriously sometimes we should.”
She said RSV is not reportable in South Carolina, meaning that doctors and labs do not have to report any positive test results. But, she said, DHEC has started requiring the reporting of RSV outbreaks.
The FDA and CDC also approved and recommended another preventive option, a monoclonal antibody, for infants under 8 months old who are at highest risk for complications from RSV or are born during—or entering—their first RSV season. A monoclonal antibody for prevention is also available for a small group of children who are between 8 and 19 months old and at high risk for severe disease, including children who are severely immunocompromised. Parents should talk with their children’s pediatrician about RSV prevention for infants.
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