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High number of hospitalizations reported
Kylie Jones reports
TAMPA, Fla. - The new year has brought the post-holiday surge of winter illnesses.
Respiratory illnesses like the flu, RSV and COVID are causing an influx of hospitalizations across the country and in the Tampa Bay area.
A doctor with AdventHealth says they’re seeing that influx, but thankfully, the influx of patients is starting to level out.
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"We certainly saw the same sort of a surge or increase in volume from all three COVID, flu and RSV," Dr. Raj Kotak, the chief medical officer with AdventHealth Carrollwood, said.
The CDC says outpatient respiratory illness has been above average nationwide since November. However, the number of flu hospitalizations nationwide has gone down slightly two weeks in a row.
"We're back down to about half of the levels that we were last week or the week before, still above where we saw them kind of pre-holiday, if you will," Kotak said.
Dr. Kotak says their emergency department have been busier than usual since the holiday season, with most of the influx being with patients who have the flu or COVID.
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He says they aren’t seeing pandemic-level surges, like they have in years past.
"Thankfully, we're seeing sort of an even distribution and not that real heavy, critically ill ICU type influenza patient," he said.
Dr. Kotak says they’ve been treating a lot of patients coming in with the flu and COVID, but with the flu typically being the more severe.
"We are we're seeing sort of all age groups, depending on what they're suffering from, obviously," Kotak said. "I believe we find more Influenza in the older population, incidental COVID in the younger population, and then the mix of the two as you increase in age and also have the immunocompromised types of diagnoses."
CDC data shows a peak in flu cases nationwide over the last few weeks of 2023. It shows the number of cases on a steady downward trend into this year.
Dr. Kotak specifically encourages people in older age groups and who are immunocompromised to follow CDC guidance for flu and COVID vaccinations. He says the vaccinations can minimize the severity if you do get sick.