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With no end in sight for the COVID-19 pandemic, medical experts are also worried about another respiratory illness: The flu.
Dr. Trahern “T.W.” Jones, a pediatric infectious disease expert at University of Utah Health and Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital, warned Friday of a rising number of flu cases in Utah, from 43 cases two weeks ago to 125 cases last week. “And we anticipate this is only rising at an exponential rate,” he said.
Adding to the concern is that the flu vaccination rate is about 14% lower than it was last year at this time. “We’re kind of vulnerable right now,” he said.
And Utah hospitals are already strained. “We are still dealing with a huge surge of children with RSV [respiratory syncytial virus]. We’re still seeing plenty of cases of COVID, and we’re just seeing overall lots of cases of viral infections,” Jones said. “So if we’re hit with the flu surge at the same time that we’re dealing with all of these cases, it’s going to be pretty rough.”
Also, he said, it could be a “deadly combination” if children and people who are immunocompromised catch both COVID and the flu at the same time. Jones urged parents to consult their doctors and get flu shots for themselves and their children.
There have been “a few” flu cases requiring hospitalization recently, and Jones expects that number to rise. He said that flu affects people differently, but even “mild” cases will cause fever, aches and pains, a loss of energy, make someone “feel miserable” and keep them home from work or school for a week or more.
But more severe cases can land a person in the hospital and possibly put them on a ventilator. “We’ve seen cases so bad that their lungs have completely failed them, filling up with fluid,” Jones said, “and they actually had to go on essentially a bypass machine for their lungs in order to oxygenate their blood.”
Jones also said:
• It’s safe to get both a COVID-19 vaccine and a flu vaccine at the same time. “They work well together. ... There’s no reason not to get yourself covered against flu at the same time of getting yourself covered against COVID.”
• Children as young as 6 months old can get the flu vaccine. “If you have an infant 6 months of age or older, you should go ahead and get them vaccinated. If you have infants younger than 6 months, get everyone around them vaccinated. Protect them.”
• Pregnant women should get vaccinated. “You’re providing protection for [unborn babies], not just by protecting yourself, but also by transferring antibodies during pregnancy.” Babies can “carry those those antibodies for months” after they’re born.
The number of children getting vaccinated against COVID-19 continues to climb — 78,655 children ages 5-11 have gotten at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine since they became eligible; that’s 21.8% of kids within that age range in Utah, according to the Utah Department of Health, with 10.3% fully vaccinated.
Jones encouraged parents to get their children vaccinated against both COVID and the flu.
“I’ve seen kids come in really sick with the flu. I’ve seen families devastated by the flu,” he said. “I can’t encourage everyone enough to take care of their kids, take care of the community by doing what we can to protect them. I’m a father. I’ve got both of my little girls at home vaccinated. I would never recommend something for everyone else to do that I don’t do for myself, for my own kids.”
On Friday, the state health department reported 1,330 new coronavirus cases in the past day. The rolling seven-day average of new cases stands at 1,254.
And there were eight more deaths, including two people who were under the age of 65.
Intensive care units in the state remain near capacity. UDOH reported Thursday that 95.4% of all ICU beds in Utah and 99.1% of ICU beds in larger medical centers in the state are occupied. (Hospitals consider any figure over 85% to be functionally full). Of all ICU patients, 42.7% are being treated for COVID-19.
Vaccine doses administered in the past day/total doses administered • 18,702 / 4,310,671.
Number of Utahns fully vaccinated • 1,854,484 — 56.7% of Utah’s total population. That is an increase of 4,312 in the past day.
Cases reported in the past day • 1,330.
Cases among school-age children • Kids in grades K-12 accounted for 229 of the new cases announced Friday — 17.2% of the total. There were 124 cases reported in children aged 5-10; 40 cases in children 11-13; and 65 cases in children 14-18.
Tests reported in past day • 9,187 people were tested for the first time. A total of 18,640 people were tested.
Deaths reported in past day • Eight.
There were three deaths in Weber County: A man and a woman between the ages of 45-64, and a man 65-84.
Utah County reported two deaths: A man 45-64, and a woman 65-84.
Other deaths were a woman 85-plus in Salt Lake County; a man 65-84 in Piute County; a man 65-84 in Washington County.
Hospitalizations reported in the past day • 536. That is 13 fewer than reported on Thursday. Of those currently hospitalized, 212 are in intensive care, three more than reported on Tuesday. And 43.6% of patients in ICUs are being treated for COVID-19.
Percentage of positive tests • Under the state’s original method, the rate is 14.5% in the past day. That is lower than the seven-day average of 15.4%.
The state’s new method counts all test results, including repeated tests of the same individual. Wednesday’s rate was 7.1%, lower than the seven-day average of 10.1%.
[Read more: Utah is changing how it measures the rate of positive COVID-19 tests. Here’s what that means.]
Risk ratios • In the past four weeks, unvaccinated Utahns were 15.3 times more likely to die of COVID-19 than vaccinated people, according to a Utah Department of Health analysis. The unvaccinated also were 9.2 times more likely to be hospitalized, and 3.6 times more likely to test positive for the coronavirus.
Totals to date • 610,681 cases; 3,640 deaths; 26,542 hospitalizations; 4,064,589 people tested.
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