An especially active flu season continues to hit Massachusetts, crowding doctors offices and emergency rooms. And while statewide cases and Boston wastewater levels have dipped a bit in recent days, health experts warn it’s likely this year’s flu season hasn’t peaked yet.
Testing of wastewater in Boston’s Deer Island Treatment Center on January 5 showed a slight dip from a peak the day after Christmas. Influenza rates in wastewater near Worcester remain high.
The rate of flu-related hospital visits across the state also declined slightly last week, according to the latest data from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Still, DPH considered overall flu activity to be “very high,” and experts tell GBH News people need to get their flu shots as this contagious strain of the flu continues to circulate.
“It certainly is encouraging that it’s trending down, at least in Metro Boston,” said Andrew Lover, associate professor of epidemiology in the School of Public Health and Health Sciences at UMass Amherst. “I expect to see this same trend to be mirrored in the rest of the state.”
Even so, Lover and other health experts say the dip is likely only temporary.
Last year saw a second peak in cases in late January, said Dr. Daniel Kuritzkes, senior physician of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Mass General Brigham.
“I think it would be premature to conclude that the flu season is on its way out, and much too soon for people to be letting their guard down,” Kuritzkes said.
Most people who get the flu can ride it out in discomfort at home — resting, hydrating and treating aches with acetaminophen. But severe cases can require more attention, and hospitals in Massachusetts are busy with flu patients.
Emergency physician Josh Baugh, who is vice chair for clinical affairs for Mass General Brigham, says across their system, they’ve seen about 11,000 cases of respiratory illness so far this season.
“We’ve certainly seen a major uptick in the cases we’re seeing in the ED over the past two, three weeks,” Baugh said. “We definitely have the capacity to take care of people who are truly ill and really need us. We are getting them through and we’re providing them great care. But also yes, the wait times certainly today are longer than they are sometimes.”
The surge of patients is not unexpected, Baugh said.
“To some extent, this is an annual thing,” he said. “Every winter we get busier as respiratory viruses circulate, but I would say this year is worse than many because of the particular strain of flu that’s going around. It’s particularly infective.”
That’s been clear at community health centers around the state, which are also seeing the surge in patients. Dr. Lisa Jones, CEO of Health First Family Care Center in Fall River, said she expects the center to see twice the number of flu patients this month as it did last January — a challenge that’s more difficult as their staff falls ill, too.
“At the same time that we’ve had an increase in demand, we’ve had an increase in sick time use due to the flu, which then makes it even more difficult to get those patients into appointments or to connect them with the nursing advice line,” Jones said. “We’ve done what we can to mandate mask usage for staff and strongly encourage and recommend it for patients.”
According to state data, 66 adults in Massachusetts have died as a result of the flu so far this season. Deaths in prior years have varied widely.
For many doctors, including Dr. Sabrina Assoumou, an infectious disease physician at Boston Medical Center and an associate professor at Boston University, there’s one key point that everyone needs to hear.
“It is not too late to get your flu shot,” Assoumou said.
Assoumou noted that unfortunately, the vaccine this year is not a complete match with the flu strain that happens to be circulating. But it’s still a good idea to get the shot, she said.
“The data that we have from the Southern Hemisphere still shows that for factors that I care about as an infectious disease doctor — meaning for severe disease, hospitalization and death — it still provides some helpful protection.”
So far, only about a third of eligible people in Massachusetts have gotten a flu shot this season. And public health officials say they’re worried that misinformation about vaccine safety may be playing a role in that.
“I think we’re getting exactly the wrong message from our federal government, unfortunately, that are sowing doubts about how worthwhile vaccines are,” said Dr. Larry Madoff, medical director of the Bureau of Infectious Disease and Laboratory Sciences for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
Earlier this week, the CDC cut the number of recommended vaccines for children from 17 to 11. Among the vaccines no longer recommended for kids by the CDC is the flu shot.
“We in Massachusetts have our own guidelines, and we’ll continue to recommend influenza vaccine for all children,” Madoff said.
The flu vaccine is safe and effective for kids, he said.
“Last year in Massachusetts, 10 children died of influenza and most of those were not vaccinated,” he said. “Vaccination for children is important and protective. And the idea of not routinely recommending it is just wrong.”
Already this season, four children in Massachusetts have died as a result of influenza.
Vandana Madhavan, the clinical director of pediatric infectious disease at Mass General Brigham for Children, said they’re seeing a large number of kids coming in for respiratory issues or dehydration related to the flu. And they’re seeing other nasty symptoms.
“We’ve seen some acute necrotizing encephalopathy, where the inflammatory effects of the virus cause inflammation in the central nervous system and cause children to have altered mental status, not be able to talk or walk at their baseline, even need more support with sometimes breathing … needing support with eating, activities of daily living,” Madhavan said.
And despite the slight decrease of flu activity, Madhavan says she’s worried about what’s to come.
“We can’t confidently say we are definitely past the peak,” she said.
