Flu activity has dropped from high to moderate levels in Georgia.
Even though this season is not as severe as recent years, levels are still elevated both here and across the country.
The Georgia Department of Public Health said 3.6 percent of patient visits to doctors were for the flu during the week ending March 23. That's down from 4 percent of visits the week before, according to the most recent report released on Friday.
While flu levels are above the national baseline of 2.2 percent, they are still well below peak levels from December.
Since October, patient visits for flu have fluctuated between 3 percent and 7.4 percent.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it expects flu activity to remain elevated for a number of weeks, suggesting this season is likely to be relatively long.
Since the flu season began, the illness has killed 29 people in Georgia — 27 adults and two children. And there have been 1,423 hospitalizations in metro Atlanta due to flu symptoms.
In the most recent data set from the influenza report compiled by the CDC, several states are still experiencing high levels of the flu, including South Carolina, Virginia and Kentucky. But Georgia's flu activity has been on the decline for several weeks and, according to the most recent report, is no longer at high levels.
Flu activity tends to peak between December and February, but can last as late as May.
The 2018-19 flu season is shaping up to be a relatively mild one, and it may be thanks, at least in part, to a better match with the flu vaccine.
Mid-season estimates suggest that the flu shot has reduced the risk of illness by around 47 percent in vaccinated people, according to a report from the CDC. During the 2017-18 flu season, vaccine effectiveness was estimated at just 36 percent.
This year’s flu vaccine is especially effective in children, at 61 percent.
An estimated 80 percent of children who died last year from the flu didn’t get the flu vaccine.
Georgia’s 2017-18 flu season didn’t subside until the end of April. It claimed at least 154 lives statewide and led to more than 3,000 hospitalizations in metro Atlanta. Local health officials called it the worst outbreak in decades.
