by Brianna Crandall — January 19, 2015—Custodial and building staff may have to deal with the impact of flu season in the United States for at least a few more weeks, according to a recent update from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). While flu activity has started to decline in some parts of the United States and perhaps overall, other areas have seen an increase.
According to the CDC, flu season lasts on average about 13 weeks. As of this publication, the current flu season has lasted around eight weeks, so there is still almost half of the season to go. The CDC says it is too soon to say whether the season has peaked yet.
The season has hit hard this year, particularly older people and people with underlying conditions, and the CDC says that is unfortunately typical of a season where influenza A (in particular the H3N2 variant) has been the dominant virus over Influenza B.
A report published in the January 16 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) estimates that getting a flu vaccine this season reduced a person’s risk of having to go to the doctor because of flu by only 23 percent among people of all ages since the dominant drifted H3N2 viruses did not appear until after the vaccine composition for the Northern Hemisphere had been chosen.
However, CDC recommends that people get a flu vaccine even during seasons when drifted viruses are circulating because vaccination can still prevent some infections and can reduce severe disease that can lead to hospitalization and death. Also, the flu vaccine is designed to protect against three or four influenza viruses and some of these other viruses may circulate later in the season.
Flu activity so far this season has been similar to the 2012-2013 flu season, a “moderately severe” flu season with H3N2 viruses predominating.
Facilities and cleaning professionals are encouraged to protect themselves by getting a flu vaccine if they have not already done so, and to get treated as soon as possible with an antiviral drug if they experience flu symptoms, and to continue to be diligent in keeping their facilities as germ-free as possible in order to help prevent the spread of this illness.
The CDC’s weekly FluView publication gives updates on the status of the flu season in the country, and the agency’s Influenza site offers basic flu information as well as information about this season and others.
