COVID-19, RSV cases decreasing in Ohio as flu cases start increasing
Fewer people are being diagnosed with COVID-19 and RSV in Ohio, according to Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, director of the Ohio Department of Health.
“Fortunately, our COVID-19 and RSV numbers have both declined from the levels that they had reached in January,” Dr. Vanderhoff said. “We were seeing 10,000 or 12,000 COVID-19 cases a week earlier this year. We’re now down to about 7,000 cases. Hospitalizations have declined as well.”
Why have the number of RSV cases gone down?
While RSV cases did increase in December and January, Dr. Vanderhoff said that’s “now receded.”
“Our overall influenza activity in Ohio this season has not been unusually high,” he said. “In fact, flu activity was declining in January, but recently, it has started increasing again.”
As of Feb. 10, Ohio has had 4,595 cases of flu-related hospitalizations this season, with 105 in Mahoning County.
Dr. Vanderhoff said the ODH is classifying schools as a hot zone for influenza going into the spring.
“We need to use common sense precautions such as if you’re feeling sick, stay home from work or school,” he said. “Get the vaccine, it could save your life.”
Dr. Vanderhoff said COVID-19, RSV and influenza aren’t the only infectious diseases to watch for this year in Ohio and abroad: whooping cough and measles.
“We have an array of traditional vaccines that protect us from a variety of illnesses that many of us may, incorrectly, think long lost,” he said. “The reason we give routine vaccinations is to protect us from organisms that, though much less common today, are still around and are still a threat. We’ve had a few examples in the past year or two of historic illnesses making their way back into Ohio and causing unvaccinated Ohioans to become, in some cases, severely ill.”
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