(Photo By Flickr User Rebecca Brown)

Healthline: The State Of Illinois

“Attention family members, attention family members, flu numbers on the rise!”

The state of Illinois is currently smack dab in the middle of flu season and so far the flu has hit hard.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention & WGEM-TV, seasonal flu vaccine effectiveness has dropped from 48% during the 2015-2016 flu season to 29% during the 2018-2019 season.

The CDC shows seasonal influenza activity is high and continues to increase in the United States.

The CDC says activity of influenza has been elevated for eight weeks.

The Prairie State, began the month of December with a low flu activity rating however that increased during the last month of 2019.

Misty Spilker, Adams County Health Department said,

“Right now we are in a widespread flu. According to the CDC, Illinois has high numbers right now.”

The CDC estimates that so far this season there have been at least 6.4 million flu illnesses, 55,000 hospitalizations and 2,900 deaths from flu.