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Health officials urge people to get a flu vaccine, with season predicted to be ‘rough’
BY MELISSA PATRICK KENTUCKY HEALTH NEWS Health officials are warning people to buckle up for a potentially rough flu season, warning that a strain of flu mutated over the summer and is spreading in the U.S. and other countries. The problem is that the influenza A (H3N2) strain mutation happened right before flu season, which
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Kentucky has ‘very high’ rate of respiratory illness
BY MELISSA PATRICK KENTUCKY HEALTH NEWS Kentucky is seeing a “very high” rate of respiratory illness, especially among children. “We are seeing somewhere between 10 to 20 patients each day in the children’s hospital needing admissions,” Dr. Lindsay Ragsdale, chief medical officer for Kentucky Children’s Hospital, said at an online press conference on Jan. 17. Statewide,
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Is it the flu or COVID? New at-home tests can check for both at the same time
For the first time, there are new at-home tests available from pharmacies without a prescription that can check for the flu and COVID-19 simultaneously, as Rob Stein reports for NPR. “The tests are very reliable — they rarely say someone’s positive when they’re really negative or vice versa, according to the FDA. If you test
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Flu shots limit infection rates, which are still elevated in Kentucky
BY MELISSA PATRICK KENTUCKY HEALTH NEWS The Kentucky Department for Public Health still considers hospitalizations for respiratory illnesses high and says flu activity remains elevated. Health officials say the best way to protect yourself from these viruses is to stay up to date with your vaccines. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that
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Respiratory illness in Kentucky resurged in the week ended Feb. 10
BY MELISSA PATRICK KENTUCKY HEALTH NEWS After weeks of overall decline, three major respiratory illnesses increased in Kentucky during the week ended Feb. 10, with children between the ages of 5 and 17 getting hit hard by influenza. The Kentucky Department for Public Health’s weekly report says flu and COVID-19 activity is elevated and increasing
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Seasonal respiratory illness in Kentucky declined for three weeks
Numbers still considered elevated BY MELISSA PATRICK KENTUCKY HEALTH NEWS Emergency department visits and hospital admissions for respiratory disease in Kentucky have dropped for three weeks in a row, but the Kentucky Department for Public Health still considers the rate of respiratory virus activity to be elevated and the number of hospitalizations to be high.
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State reports two children have died, one from flu and one from COVID-19, but hospital visits show first decline in months
BY MELISSA PATRICK KENTUCKY HEALTH NEWS As the state reported the first two deaths of children from COVID-19 and influenza, Kentucky saw the first drops in emergency-room visits and hospital admissions for the diseases in more than three months. The weekly respiratory-illness update from the state Department for Public Health showed a 21% drop in
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As respiratory illnesses keep rising in Kentucky by double digits weekly, another one, with a long-lingering cough, is also circulating
BY MELISSA PATRICK KENTUCKY HEALTH NEWS As illness from the three respiratory viruses tracked by the state — influenza, COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) — continue to increase in Kentucky, another one with a lingering cough that can last for months is spreading over much of the country, including the Bluegrass State. “We have
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One-stop website on respiratory viruses launches in Kentucky
State joins CDC and other states in consolidated approach FRANKFORT (Oct. 12, 2023) — The Kentucky Department for Public Health has launched a new respiratory virus website, CoverYourCough.ky.gov, a one-stop spot for finding information on COVID-19, influenza and RSV. According to KDPH Commissioner Dr. Steven Stack, today’s move follows the approach the Centers for Disease
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New vaccines for COVID-19, flu, RSV expected to curb ever-mutating respiratory viruses
KENTUCKY HEALTH NEWS Americans will have access to several vaccines this fall to protect them against respiratory viruses, including COVID-19, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), but effectively deploying them is expected to be challenging and confusing. With the latest major mutation of the COVID-19 virus, “We have to have a lot of humility .
