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Flu rates are still high in Georgia this month but appear to be dropping slightly as people resume regular schedules after the winter holidays.
That’s in line with national trends that show a drop in flu positivity rates from prior weeks, according to the latest data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The percentage of flu tests that came back positive at selected labs in the metro Atlanta area dropped from a high of 40% for the week ending Dec. 20 to about 18% for the week ending Jan. 10, according to data from the Georgia Department of Public Health.
The CDC predicts a moderately severe flu season for adults 18-64 and those over age 65. However, it predicts a “high-severity” season for children 17 and under.
That doesn’t mean the threat is over. Six people died in Georgia in the week ending Jan. 10, bringing the death toll from the flu since the season started in October to 69. That includes two deaths of children between the ages of 5 and 17. The flu season usually runs through March.
Vaccination remains the best way to protect against the flu, said Dr. M.G. Finn, a professor of biochemistry at Georgia Tech and an expert in viruses and immunology.
Finn said there is a gap between this year’s vaccine and the variant of flu that is circulating widely, in part because scientists design the vaccine well in advance of the flu season. Still, the vaccine reduces the risk of hospitalization by about 40%, he said, making it a valuable tool for protecting health.
“You want to bias the odds in your favor of not getting seriously ill if you happen to come across somebody who has the flu, and you want to minimize the chances of you passing it along to people around you,” Finn said. “It’s completely and utterly safe, so there is no risk whatsoever for taking it.”
Other respiratory viruses also continue to circulate. The positivity rate for RSV at selected clinical laboratories was 10.6% for PCR tests, about the same rate it’s been since late November, according to DPH data
However, the CDC has identified low rates of Covid in wastewater for the week ending Jan. 10, with very low rates of Georgians visiting emergency rooms for Covid and lower rates of Covid-related hospitalizations than at the same time last year.
Meanwhile, Georgia reported its first measles case of the year, on Jan. 12, in a child who was too young to be vaccinated and who had a history of international travel. The case was reported in the Coastal Health District, which covers eight counties around Savannah.
The CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend that children get the first dose of the measles, mumps, rubella vaccine at ages 12 to 15 months and the second dose between 4 and 6 years of age.
That case was acquired during international travel, according to DPH, meaning it is not likely linked to the large outbreak in neighboring South Carolina.
There have been 700 cases reported since the outbreak in the region around Spartanburg began in October.
Rebecca Grapevine is a reporter covering public health in Atlanta for Healthbeat. Contact Rebecca at rgrapevine@healthbeat.org.
