Texas reaches ‘very high’ level of flu activity as aggressive flu season continues

Texas’ flu season is off to an early start this year, and doesn’t show any signs of slowing down, public health officials said this week.

Texas is one of multiple states throughout the U.S. with a “very high” level of flu activity, Vinny Taneja, director of Tarrant County Public Health, said Tuesday.

“I don’t think I’ve seen that in a long time on our flu map,” Taneja said during a commissioners court meeting Tuesday, referencing the maroon color being used to indicate the level of flu in Texas and across much of the southern U.S.

Statewide, almost 8% of patients seeking care in outpatient clinics had flu-like symptoms, according to data from the state health department. This metric, which looks at “influenza-like illness,” is the one that most public health officials rely on to indicate how many people are showing up to doctors’ offices with fevers, coughs and sore throats.

“It is significantly higher than what we saw at this point in the last few years,” said Dr. Jennifer Shuford, the interim commissioner of the Department of State Health Services, during a Monday press conference.

The annual flu season is known for being difficult to predict, Shuford said, so this year’s flu season could continue to get worse, could peak in the next few weeks before dropping, or could peak multiple times over the next few months.

Public health officials encouraged Texans to get their seasonal influenza vaccine in addition to the updated COVID-19 bivalent booster to protect against serious illness from bother viruses.

In a typical year, only about 50% of Texans get the annual flu shot. The seasonal flu vaccine is recommended for anyone six months of age and older, and particularly for young children, adults 65 years and older, pregnant women, and people with compromised immune systems.

Respiratory syncytial virus appears to have peaked in Texas

The good news, Taneja said, is that after an aggressive early start to RSV season, the last two weeks have shown a small decrease in the number of Texans testing positive for RSV.

Respiratory syncytial virus, better known as RSV, is a common virus. In most healthy adults, it will only cause a cold. But the virus can cause more serious illness, pneumonia, and even death in very young children, people 65 and older, and people with compromised immune systems.

In October, children’s hospitals throughout the state said an influx of RSV case combined with an early start to the flu season had left them with limited capacity. Cook Children’s Health Network, in Fort Worth, said hospital beds and outpatient clinics were at capacity with sick kids.

On Sunday, there were 11 beds available in pediatric intensive care units across the DFW area, according to state data.