By Paula Peterson

Wearing a mask, washing hands, and keeping distance from others have been the protocol for keeping the coronavirus at bay for the past year. Schools have been closed as have other businesses. These situations and habits are being credited for low seasonal influenza activity in the U.S. along with more people getting the flu shots.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) started off the flu season with telling the public that getting a flu vaccine was more important than ever during 2020-2021 season. They wanted them to protect themselves and the people around the from flu, and to help reduce the strain on healthcare systems responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Their plea worked and more flu vaccines than ever were distributed. Last year, 174.5 million doses were distributed. To date this year, 193.7 million doses have gone into the arms of Americans and facilities are still providing vaccinations.

The seventh week of flu season statistics have been published by the Center for Disease Control (CDC), all of which show lower than usual for this time of year.

Clinical laboratories have tested 659,131 specimens for flu so far this season, with 1,499 of those testing positive (.2 percent). Public health labs have tested 321,844 specimens with 202 positive results. Most positive results are for children ages 0-4.

Typically, people feeling like they have the flu don’t always go to the doctor or hospital and just treat it at home, keeping specimen collection to lower levels that other conditions. Children are tested more often.

So far this season approximately 25 patients have been seen at Barton Health that tested positive for the flu.

No laboratory-confirmed influenza outbreaks were reported to California Department of Public Health (CDPH) during the past week and, to date, no laboratory-confirmed influenza outbreaks have been reported for the 2020–2021 season.

To date during the 2020–2021 influenza season, 29 influenza-coded deaths have been identified in California. 18 of those are age 65+, 5 ages 50-64, 5 ages 18-49, and 1 under 18. In 2017-18, a big flu year for California, 1,666 died from the flu, and last year, 889.

In comparison, COVID-19 has led to the death of 51,979 Californians as of February 28, 2021.

For regular influenza, there are only a few situations where reporting is mandatory:
– Laboratory-confirmed influenza-associated fatal pediatric cases age 0–17 years
– Outbreaks in community and congregate settings

CDPH is aware that flu outbreak identification and reporting for SNFs/LTCFs (skilled nursing facilities and long term care facilities) is likely going to suffer right now, so they are trying to help counties by watching for flu reports. El Dorado County is contacted weekly for its data.