The Alabama Department of Public Health said respiratory virus cases hit a seasonal high in the first week of January but remain manageable.
“We are still in the midst of respiratory virus season. The flu numbers look a little bit better now in Alabama over the past week,” State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris said to state committee board members of the Public Health Department on Thursday.
Harris said he’s most concerned with RSV numbers, which have declined from a peak late last year but remain elevated in Alabama and across the nation.
RSV often gives people mild cold-like symptoms. Most recover within a week or two, but the infection can be severe, especially for infants and older adults.
(READ MORE: Chattanooga sees dramatic increase in flu, COVID, other illness following holidays)
According to data reported Jan. 13, the percentage of RSV tests that detected the virus via an antigen, or rapid, test was 6.3%, significantly down from a high of 20.4% reported in November.
“The most issues with hospitals across the country, particularly in the Southeast, have to do with pediatric beds. That’s more of an issue than adult beds,” Harris said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the new RSV vaccine for adults over 60 and children under 2 years old, as well as people who are 32-36 weeks pregnant to protect their babies from severe RSV. High risk children getting a first dose of the vaccine should get a second a year later.
Besides the RSV vaccine, there is a monoclonal treatment for those who get infected.
(READ MORE: Weather takes toll on Chattanooga region’s blood supply)
The CDC said numbers for respiratory virus activity levels — measuring illnesses with flu-like symptoms, including COVID-19 — dropped from Level 13, the highest level, the week of Jan. 1 to Level 12 the week of Jan. 8. Alabama experienced similar levels of reported respiratory virus activity in November 2022.
Only 8% of Alabamians are up-to-date on their COVID-19 vaccines, meaning they received the bivalent COVID-19 booster, according to the CDC. The national average is about 17%, according to CDC’s final report on vaccination status published in October.
The CDC estimates 38.3% of Alabama children were vaccinated against the flu in 2023, compared to 43.9% nationwide. Adults in Alabama had a slightly higher rate of flu vaccination, at 43.2%, compared to 44.9% across the nation.
Activity levels measured by the CDC are determined based on the percentage of visits to enrolled outpatient health care providers or emergency departments for fever and cough or sore throat reported — not necessarily positive tests.
Wastewater monitoring tells the levels of viral activity in sewage, detecting traces of infectious diseases circulating within a community, even in the absence of symptoms in individuals.
Harris said the correlation between wastewater viral activity levels and hospitalization is not clear yet, but those numbers seem to be peaking.
“Maybe we reached a peak, but it’s hard to say,” he said.
Read more at AlabamaReflector.com.