As families gathered for the Thanksgiving holiday, North America was experiencing the beginnings of increased flu activity. However, in Florida, children’s vaccine levels lagged behind the rest of the nation.
The Sunshine State's pediatric vaccine levels (ages 6 months to 17 years) are about 22%, lagging behind the national average of 56% for children overall, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The ideal level is 70%, said Cindy Prins, an epidemiologist at the University of Central Florida.
Florida's child vaccination turnout is also low compared to the state's numbers from the previous flu season, about 48%. However, it is still early for flu season, Prins said.
Are kids at risk?
Most folks won't suffer the severe effects of the flu even without a vaccine, but vaccinating before holiday get-togethers can be crucial for the most vulnerable family members, including immunocompromised folks, those 65 years and older, and especially young infants, Prins said.
"Infants who are under 6 months can't get vaccinated, you know, they can be vulnerable," Prins said. "If you have children with underlying health conditions, conditions like asthma or other conditions, they can be at greater risk as well."
Flu cases rising. A return to normal?
Last week, the CDC released data showing Florida was among seven states with the highest flu activity. The other six included Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico and South Carolina.
However, the increased activity for this point of the year is fairly typical of pre-COVID-19 pandemic flu seasons, said Matt Hitchings, an assistant professor at the Department of Biostatistics at the University of Florida. COVID preventative strategies, such as quarantining, may have had impacts on other respiratory virus behavior, such as the flu, which peaks sometime between January and March.
With COVID interfering, scientists saw influenza outbreaks occurring either early in the season (September) or late (April.) That's not the case this year, which could be a sign that respiratory virus seasons are returning to a pre-2020 lifestyle.
"We've had in the last few years seen influenza at odd times, coming on the earlier side or on the very late side. So it seems like in terms of the shape of the epidemic, or the seasonal case counts this year, we're back on to pre-pandemic trends in terms of the timing," Hitchings said.
When should you get your flu shot?
A good time to get vaccinated is around October, Hitchings said. Getting the vaccine further into the season is a bit like playing chicken with the virus. The later one gets their shot, the stronger their immunity will likely be during the peak of flu season, but they also run a greater risk of getting sick before getting the shot, Hitchings said.
"Epidemiologists would probably recommend not leaving your appointment that late," he said.
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