Hospitals nationwide are strained as this flu season becomes one of the worst on record. Physicians are seeing a frightening spike in serious complications, such as pneumonia and brain swelling that can be fatal in children.
With flu-related hospitalizations outpacing COVID-19 in many areas, healthcare workers describe the crisis as eerily reminiscent of the early pandemic. “We’re seeing a flood of young adults and children struggling with severe pneumonia,” said Dr. John Lynch, an infectious disease expert at UW Medicine.
Kids are especially at risk, with experts seeing more cases of acute necrotizing encephalopathy (ANE), a very rare brain inflammation that leads to tissue death.
Most infected children become lethargic and find it difficult to remain awake, a classic symptom of the disease.
In the meantime, ICUs are filled with flu patients contracting MRSA pneumonia, a drug-resistant bacterial infection that can devastate lung tissue. A few adults in their 40s have needed ECMO, a life-support therapy usually reserved for the sickest of cases.
In spite of the crisis, rates of flu vaccination are perilously low—only 44% of children and adults have gotten a flu shot.
With several weeks of intense flu activity yet to come, physicians are insisting it is not too late to vaccinate. Prevention such as masking, testing, and antiviral treatment given early in illness can still lower infection severity.
