Flu season is here.
The first Sunday of October generally marks the official start of the flu season.
Each week, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services publishes an influenza surveillance report, chronicling the rise and/or fall of flu cases and deaths in the state. The state receives data from individual county health departments.
Chezney Schulte, communicable disease coordinator for Cole County, said she has only reported three cases of influenza (one of influenza A and two of influenza B), during the first reporting period.
Statewide, the first report, which covers the week ending Oct. 9, showed laboratories confirmed 28 positive cases (12 of influenza A and 16 of influenza B).
The percentage of influenza-positive respiratory specimens the state reported to the national surveillance system remained low, according to the report.
Missouri did not report any influenza-associated deaths for the week.
There were no outbreaks in schools.
Nationally, most states reported minimal or low rates of influenza cases. Only the District of Columbia showed "very high" rates of influenza.
Arizona had moderate rates of influenza. Missouri's rates are low, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) map.
"Overall, influenza virus circulation remains low; therefore, increases in influenza-like illness activity are likely due to increased circulation of other respiratory viruses," the CDC update said.
During 2020-2021, Cole County only had 36 cases of influenza reported.
The 2020-2021 flu season was one of the mildest recently, according to a CDC summary.
"The low level of flu activity during this past season contributed to dramatically fewer flu illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths compared with previous flu seasons," the CDC found.
The number of influenza-related hospitalizations was the lowest since records of this type began being kept in 2005. The CDC received only one report of a child's death during the 2020-2021 flu season.
Such deaths have been recorded since 2004, and the previous low was 37 during the season of 2011-2012. That was also a relatively mild flu season. The highest number of deaths since they have been recorded (199) occurred during the 2019-2020 season.
"COVID-19 mitigation measures, such as wearing face masks, staying home, hand washing, school closures, reduced travel, increased ventilation of indoor spaces and physical distancing likely contributed to the decline in 2020-2021 flu incidence, hospitalizations and deaths," the summary said. "Flu vaccine effectiveness estimates for 2020-2021 are not available, but a record number of influenza vaccine doses (193.8 million doses) were distributed in the United States."
The CDC and vaccine manufacturers approve of people receiving flu and COVID-19 vaccines during the same visit, Schulte said.
"Some providers in the area; however, are recommending to their patients that the two be spaced if possible," Schulte said. "I encourage the community to reach out to their providers to determine the best course of action."