Flu surge hitting Linn and Johnson counties

CEDAR RAPIDS — A statewide surge in influenza cases has hit hard in Eastern Iowa, with 11 Linn County schools and two Johnson County schools reporting that at least 10 percent of their students were out sick in one week, according to the most recent weekly data released by the state Health and Human Services department.

But local health care experts say we could already be on the downward side of the spike.

Dr. Dustin Arnold, chief medical officer of UnityPoint Health-St. Luke’s Hospital in Cedar Rapids, said that since 2020 he’s been keeping track of how many people come into the hospital each day with symptoms that indicate a respiratory condition, like COVID-19 or the flu. He didn’t share specific data, but said that based on the numbers he’s seeing this year and how they compare with trends in past years, he believes the flu cases peaked around Feb. 10.

“It’s flu season, and so those numbers are up. It’s probably a little bit more intense than the last couple of years, but it's not the worst that I've seen in my 30 years of practice,” Arnold said. “If you're ill, stay home, wash your hands, cover your cough — just do the basics from that standpoint.”

The most recent data from Iowa Heath and Human Services, which was released last Friday, indicates that during the week of Feb. 2-8, there were more than 8,000 flu tests given in clinic settings in Iowa, and 37.5 percent of them came back positive. That’s up from the 24.4 percent of positive tests the state saw at the same time period last year. There were also five flu-related deaths that week in Iowa, up from three during the same week last year.

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“One of the things that's a little frustrating with the data is, because it has to be collected, it's not real time. So the numbers that we're seeing now are from previous weeks, and by the time things are getting high, you're already into it,” said Jennifer Miller, a disease prevention specialist with Johnson County Public Health.

Miller said that delay is why she recommends people get the flu vaccine early on in the flu season each year rather than wait for when the rates are already high. But she noted it’s not too late for anyone not vaccinated to get the shot.

“When, as an individual, you're out in the world, you can't control if the other people around you are sick. You can only control how you're reacting,” Miller said. “The best way to protect yourself from getting the flu — and also from, if you get the flu, having a serious illness from it — is annual vaccinations.”

Influenza data isn’t reported on a local level in individual counties, but county health departments can have some idea of how bad the spread is locally based on how many kids are calling in sick at school. Schools have to report whenever they have more than 10 percent of students out sick during a single week, and the county health department then checks in with those schools to see what kinds of symptoms parents are reporting and work on ways to mitigate spread.

During the week of Feb. 2-8, there were two schools in Johnson County and 11 schools in Linn County that hit that 10 percent threshold. Both Johnson County and Linn County Public Health departments said that most of the symptoms being reported by those schools are flu-like.

Heather Meador, the Linn County Public Health clinical branch supervisor, said that the Linn County department has also recently heard from some businesses and long-term health care facilities that influenza is spreading.

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“We have to remember that for a lot of people, they may have the flu but they haven’t gone into a doctor’s office,” Meador said. “Not everyone is always tested for it, so whatever our numbers are for influenza, we know that it’s probably a little bit higher.”

Meador also emphasized the importance of getting vaccinated against the flu. She said recorded vaccination rates have been low this year, and it may be part of why the disease has been spreading so quickly.

The data the county keeps about vaccination rates isn’t always complete since there many avenues through which someone can be vaccinated and the shots aren’t all reported quickly — or at all — to the county, Meador said. So far this year, Linn County Public Health has recorded that 36 percent of children 6 years old and younger have been vaccinated, 23 percent of people between 7 and 18 have been vaccinated and 29 percent of adults ages 19 and older have been vaccinated.

Besides vaccinations, Meador and Miller both recommended being vigilant about hand washing and staying home when sick to prevent the spread of the disease.

“It’s so important to follow those three C’s — cover your cough and sneeze, clean your hands often and contain yourself at home when sick,” Meador said. “We’re always worried about the really young. Infants and small children have a harder time sometimes with influenza. We're also worried about the elderly, those with underlying medical conditions. … But influenza can strike anyone.”

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