Experts urge for flu jab as U.S. hospitalizations soar

STORY: Hospitalizations from the flu in the U.S. is at its highest in a decade for this time of the year.

The country’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, said on Monday 4,500 people have died so far this influenza season, including 14 children.

No one under the age of 18 died of flu in the 2021-22 season.

The CDC warned that U.S. hospital systems are under pressure, with a high number of patients suffering respiratory illnesses that also include COVID-19 and the respiratory virus known as RSV.

Dr. Bruce Hirsch, a New York infectious diseases physician, said the “crazy experience” people have had over the last few years with COVID is partly to blame.

“With COVID, we have masked ourselves, we have avoided each other... We've protected ourselves. Our immune system has not been revved up. The vaccine rates are lower. We are a prime sitting target for other respiratory illnesses as we relax our guard down and begin to have contact with other people."

According to CDC figures, between Oct. 1 and Nov. 26, the cumulative rate of hospitalization for flu in the U.S. was 16.6 per 100,000 people.

That’s much higher than the typical rate of 0.1 to 2 cases per 100,000 in a similar time period over the past decade.

Data from the CDC shows about 12% fewer pregnant women have taken the flu jab so far this season compared to last season, and about 5% fewer children.

Dr. Hirsch echoed the CDC’s urge for people to get their flu shots, even though, as he said, "A lot of us, understandably, are over it."

"But when you get a vaccine for a preventable illness, you prevent you from spreading it to people around you...

I'm just concerned that so many of us are so burned out that we're not going to understand that our health impacts the health of others and we're going to stop taking precautions."

The CDC said COVID-19 cases have also risen since the Thanksgiving holiday and related hospitalizations have soared by up to 20% over the past week.