Florida sees rise in flu cases ahead of Thanksgiving: CDC

TAMPA, Fla. - As families prepare to get together this week for the Thanksgiving holiday, doctors are warning about the rise in flu cases across Florida. 

Typically, the winter flu season starts ramping up in December, but the CDC said they're already seeing a high number of cases in southern states like Florida. With RSV and COVID-19 still a concern, doctors said vulnerable groups should do their best to protect themselves, especially over the holiday.

A recent map from the CDC has Florida in dark orange, showing high levels of hospital visits for respiratory illnesses on November 11.

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"We do seem to be kind of a hot spot, and that's pretty typical of what we'll generally see," said Dr. Thomas Unnasch, USF College of Public Health's emeritus distinguished professor. "It just has a lot to do with socialization and how much contact people are having with each other."

So far this fall, the CDC estimates there have been at least 780,000 flu cases. Of those, there have been at least 8,000 hospitalizations and 490 flu-related deaths — including at least one child. 

This flu season, RSV is also a concern, meanwhile COVID-19 cases seem to be slowing down, according to Dr. Unnasch.

"These numbers are really starting to increase," Dr. Unnasch said. "At least doubling over the last four weeks or so here in the state of Florida. On the other hand, COVID seems to be just puttering along, so we may be in a situation this year where we'll mostly see RSV and influenza as a problem and not so much COVID."

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According to the CDC, it's not yet clear how effective the current flu vaccines are, but Dr. Unnasch said it's one of the best ways to minimize the chances of being hospitalized. The latest data shows about 35% of adults and 33% of children in the U.S. have been vaccinated against the flu virus.

If you're traveling this Thanksgiving, Dr. Unnasch encourages people to take steps to protect themselves.

"I will wear masks and I carry hand sanitizer around and try and keep my hands away from my face and do the best I can and that's basically the best thing that you can do. Wash your hands a lot and try not to breathe other people's air as much as possible," he said.

The latest data also shows more people are getting their flu shot than the RSV shot and COVID-19 vaccine. So far, about 14% of people have gotten the latest COVID-19 shot and about 13% of people over 60 have gotten at least one of the RSV shots.