Doctors watching influenza, RSV, COVID-19 numbers after holiday vacations end

Now that Americans have traveled home from holiday vacations, medical experts are closely watching the end of a flu season that hit early and hard.

Influenza hospitalizations are trending lower than they were a month ago, and reports from the Minnesota Department of Health show numbers are currently leveling out.

One reason, doctors say, is an effective flu vaccine.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also reported an overall positive note, saying the flu season has slowed.

However, doctors aren’t declaring victory yet, as it’s only January — the time hospitals start to see a rise in admissions. The CDC said despite the national downward trend, seasonal flu activity remains high at the start of January. That’s likely because this flu season started much earlier than other years.

So far this season, there have been at least 230,000 people admitted for the flu at hospitals around the country, and the CDC estimates about 14,000 Americans have died because of it.

Officials have counted around 107 flu deaths this season in Minnesota. The Minnesota Department of Health has reported around 3,000 hospitalizations through New Year’s Eve.

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