“This flu season has really taxed us,” said Dr. Prakash Ganesh, medical director for the Cuyahoga County Board of Health. “In November, December and January, we were seeing the highest number of cases we’ve seen in a long time.”
CLEVELAND, Ohio — During the last few winters, flu seasons have been mild. But this season, the flu rebounded to levels not seen since well before the COVID-19 pandemic.
At this same point in past flu seasons, Cuyahoga County had zero flu-related deaths in 2022, one in 2021, and fewer than 10 in 2020 and 2021. Across the region, more flu-related deaths have been recorded so far this season, than were seen during the entire 2021-2022 influenza seasonLorain County has recorded six adult flu-related deaths, compared to one last season. And Lake County has recorded four influenza-related adult deaths this season, compared to only one death during the 2021-2022 season.
The levels of protection generated by this year’s flu shot have been higher than what has been seen in other recent years when H3 predominated, according to news reports. While getting the flu doesn’t mean you won’t get it again, some data suggests that frequent exposure mitigates other flu seasons and so the fact that we haven’t really been exposed in the last couple of years probably also contributed to the flu season.
As of January 2023, about 47% of American adults were immunized against influenza, according to the CDC. In Ohio, about 44% of adults had gotten the flu shot. While that’s above the 44% of American adults had gotten the flu vaccine by January of last year, it’s still less than half of adults in the United States, according to the CDC.
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