Flu cases on the rise in Santa Clara Country

SAN JOSE -- After two years taking a backseat to the pandemic, influenza cases are on the rise in Santa Clara County as mask mandates and other precautions put into place to prevent the spread of COVID have been allowed to expire.

Health experts said the COVID preventative measures also reduced the spread of other respiratory viruses.

 Now, at the start of the holiday travel and family gatherings season, they are worried that flu will make a strong comeback this winter.

"We are seeing more cases than we would expect at this time," the CDC's Dr. José Romero said of the flu. 

The CDC says reports of flu are already high in 17 states, and the hospitalization rate hasn't been this high this early since the 2009 swine flu pandemic. So far, there have been an estimated 730 flu deaths, including at least two children.   

On Wednesday, Santa Clara County public health officials said they are bracing for a spike of flu cases and also children infected with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Data shows the weekly percentage of emergency department visits for influ-like illness is about triple what it was for the same time period during the 2019-2020, right before the COVID pandemic.

"Flu is here and on the rise," said Dr. Sara Cody, health officer for Santa Clara County.

"Our early indications, from the number of patients seeking treatment and hospitalizations for flu and RSV, have our medical staff preparing for an influx of people seeking treatment in our hospitals and clinics," Dr. Vidya Mony, Pediatric Infectious Diseases Specialist, Associate Hospital Epidemiologist at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, added.

Health officials also unveiled a new web page to show the flu concentration in each of the four Santa Clara County sewersheds: Gilroy, Palo Alto, San Jose, and Sunnyvale.

"Seeing rising levels of flu in wastewater provides us with an early indication of community risk, and alerts health systems to a potential surge in patients," Dr. Cody said.