Rising flu cases drive continued increases in emergency-room visits and hospital admissions for respiratory illnesses in Kentucky
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| State graphs, adapted by Kentucky Health News |
By Al Cross
Kentucky Health News
A big jump in influenza cases more than outweighed small declines in Covid-19 and respiratory syncitial virus as Kentuckians headed into the holidays, according to the state’s latest respiratory-illness update.
The report for the week ended Dec. 23 shows the three illnesses accounted for 4,431 Kentucky emergency-department visits, an increase of 10.3 percent from the week before. That was driven entirely by a 30 percent increase in flu cases, from 2,109 to 2,737.
Covid-19 cases declined from 1,107 to 1,080 during the week, and RSV cases dropped from 802 to 614, a decline of 31 percent, according to the report from the state Department for Public Health.
Kentucky hospital admissions for the three diseases rose only 3.3 percent, from 670 to 692, while admissions for the flu rose 36 percent, from 144 to 196.
Covid-19 admissions declined from 339 to 329, and RSV admissions declined from 187 to 167 during the week ended Dec. 23.
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| CDC map, adapted by Ky. Health News; click on any image to enlarge it. |
The week saw the development of a new hotspot for Covid-19 hospital admissions, in far western Kentucky and two nearby Illinois counties. The rate of Covid-19 hospital admissions was 23.1 per 100,000 residents in Ballard, Carlisle, Hickman, Graves, Livingston, Lyon, McCracken and Marshall counties.
