Chicago health officials are urging residents to get the influenza vaccine to keep themselves safe as the region and nation are seeing an uptick in cases.“It’s been rising for the last month. As expected, we saw a little bit of a bump after the Thanksgiving holiday. We’re going to continue to see an even bigger bump after the Christmas holidays,” said Dr. Emily Landon, executive medical director of infection prevention and control at University of Chicago Medicine. “We are definitely seeing more cases than we do in a typical flu season at this point so more people are getting sick.”Landon said people make the mistake of thinking the flu is not as bad as COVID-19.“Influenza is pretty awful. It can really cause significant illness in the elderly. It can also wreak havoc with even young, healthy people,” Landon said. “Flu is actually really dangerous.”As of Friday, visits to emergency rooms and hospitalizations increased from moderate to high across all age categories but especially for children from newborn to 17 years old, the Chicago Department of Public Health said.The CDPH reported those who tested positive for influenza increased from 9.2% to 17.1%, as of last week. About 95% tested positive for influenza A, primarily the H3N2 strain.“Vaccination is the best way to prevent it,” Landon said.However, short of that, there are other measures people can take.“Things like wearing a mask in crowded areas, especially public transportation, or if you’re flying on an airplane soon,” Landon said. “Flu can be spread not…
Want more insights? Join Grow With Caliber - our career elevating newsletter and get our take on the future of work delivered weekly.
