GREEN BAY (NBC26) - The coronavirus might be top of mind right now, but health officials say there's something closer to home you should be thinking of. Flu activity in Wisconsin is still high according to local hospitals.
“The flu is still circulating, we haven't peaked yet,” said Carol Bess, the Infection Prevention Team Leader at Bellin Health.
At this point, at least 77 people in northeast Wisconsin have been hospitalized for the flu; that’s not including children. Across the nation there have been 54 pediatric deaths from the flu, one of them from Wisconsin. However, reports show we are on track for having one of the lowest total amount of pediatric deaths in years.
“The younger children definitely are a little bit more susceptible,” Bess said. “Babies under the age of 6 months aren't able to be vaccinated so it's really important that those around the baby are vaccinated.”
Bess adds another change in the flu this season is the reverse of the A and B strain. Bess says influenza B is normally more common toward the end of the season, but this time there were more cases of it in the beginning. Bess says they're not sure why.
“It just happens to be the strain that popped up and has been more virulent to cause more illness."
Bess says both strains have the same symptoms and are treated the same. Adding,
While vaccines are the best prevention, washing your hands can help tremendously. Bellin employees say a trick to help your kids, is to have them sing the ABC’s while washing their hands.
In Wisconsin, theCDC still shows the state at a high flu activity level. In Brown and surrounding counties, the state health department shows we're at a moderate level.
Reports from the Wisconsin Health Services department show 23 people in the state have died so far from the flu this season.
