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Flu activity is up, but vaccinations are down among adults and children across Michigan. The peak of this flu season has not arrived yet, and doctors are saying they are very concerned.
Some Michigan doctors and public health leaders held a virtual roundtable on Wednesday, Jan. 7, urging parents and caregivers to keep children up to date on all recommended vaccinations.
“When we look statewide at the number of folks who are getting the flu vaccine this year, that number has gone down every year since 2020,” said Doctor Natasha Bagdasarian, chief medical executive for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
Bagdasarian said there are a lot of people in the state who still need to get their flu shot.
“Only 24 percent of the Michigan population has received their flu vaccine,” said Bagdasarian. “And if we look at the little ones, if we look at little kids, it’s much lower than that. So, it’s lower than eighteen percent if we look at those pediatric data.”
According to the MDHHS, this flu season, the State has recorded 2,110 flu related hospitalizations. 306 of the hospitalizations were children ages 4 and under.
“Flu is not a mild illness for many children,” said Doctor Aarti Raheja, clinical assistant professor of pediatrics at Michigan Medicine. “Every year, children become seriously ill from flu complications that really could’ve been prevented by vaccination. Some of these children require intensive care. And many children and adolescents who die from the flu were not vaccinated.”
So far this flu season, there have been zero pediatric deaths caused by the flu in Michigan. But Raheja said it could be just a matter of time before that changes.
“We had 14 children who unfortunately passed away in our state from influenza last year, which was a record,” said Raheja. “And I’m really concerned with the intensity of this flu season, and low vaccine rates, that that number may go up.”
Raheja said since it is not the peak of flu season yet, there is still time to get the flu shot.
“Vaccination is really the most powerful tool that we have to prevent severe illness, hospitalization, and death from the flu,” said Raheja. “It’s not too late at all to get vaccinated to protect your family.”