SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – Health officials at LSU Health Shreveport expect a resurgence of the flu in the coming winter months.
COVID-19 has been public health enemy number one in the United States; Dr. John Vanchiere with LSUHS says the efforts to stop the spread of COVID have also led to lighter flu seasons over the past two years.
“The mitigation strategies that we had in place that worked for COVID also worked for influenza very well,” Vanchiere said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently softened COVID guidelines, and now there is less emphasis on masking and social distancing.
Doctors, including those in Shreveport, are bracing for a resurgence of the flu this upcoming winter.
“We’re expecting a brisk flu season, which means somewhere between 10 to 30 thousand hospitalizations related to influenza over the next probably eight months,” Vanchiere said.
Aside from the flu, there could be more COVID variants during the winter, making it extremely difficult to discern if one may have the flu when the symptoms of COVID are similar, according to Vanchiere.
“So, right now, it’s really preparatory time to get vaccinated against the flu,” Vanchiere said. “Flu season typically starts around Thanksgiving and lasts into spring. The vaccines that we use have two different flavors of flu A in them and two different flavors of flu B in them so that we get broad protection against the strains of flu that are expected to circulate during this winter.”
The CDC recommends that everyone six months and older get vaccinated for the flu by the end of October.
