By Donald Gilpin

As spring and the likely end of the season for high numbers of respiratory diseases approaches, influenza activity locally and throughout the state remains high, but health officials are hopeful that this year’s numbers may have peaked in February.

“The trajectory for influenza has decreased in the past week,” wrote Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center Epidemiologist David J. Herman in a March 5 email. “If this pattern holds, we may have seen the peak of this year’s influenza season.” He noted that flu activity remains high in all New Jersey counties, but he pointed out that a tripledemic — flu, COVID-19, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) — “was not apparent, since all three viruses did not peak at the same time.”

He added, “COVID-19 cases continue in a slow decline both locally and statewide.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) most recently reported for the week of February 17 that RSV percent positivity in New Jersey and the percentage of emergency department visits with a diagnosis of RSV had been decreasing since mid-December.

Princeton Deputy Administrator/Director of Health Jeff Grosser also pointed out the high state activity for influenza, “with 61,506 cases reported through February 24.”  He continued, “Last year we saw influenza peak through the early part of January. This season will likely conclude with the influenza peak occurring sometime in mid-to-late February. We have also observed a few fast-acting outbreaks of influenza in our K-12 schools.”

Grosser noted that this year is different from previous post-pandemic years in that “we are not having that overlapping peak timing.” In past years there were times when all three respiratory illnesses — flu, COVID-19, and RSV — “were peaking all at similar times, which increased the hospital emergency department burden.”

For the 2023-24 season through March 4, Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center has reported 510 cases of influenza.  There was a total of 672 cases reported for the entire 2022-23 season.

Grosser stated that the severity of this year’s flu season seems “relatively typical,” but he said that with more workers

spending more time back in the office, there have been more workplace-related respiratory outbreaks than in recent past years.

Grosser explained that the Princeton Health Department has partnered with a few schools that were experiencing increased absenteeism from influenza-like illnesses.  There is a high risk of spread of illnesses in schools, he said, since there is typically a large number of people congregating closely.

“Timing is critical with our school-based infection-control practices,” he added. “Early notification of cases leads to increased awareness and reduction of overall cases.”

The most recently reported CDC COVID-19 hospital admission levels, for the week ended February 17, are “low” throughout New Jersey except in the three southernmost counties, which are listed at a “medium” level.

At Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center there have been 307 COVID-19 cases reported from January 1 to March 4 of this year, both hospitalized and outpatient. There were 570 cases reported in the same period in 2023. 

Both Grosser and Herman strongly recommended updated COVID-19 vaccines for all. “The 2023-24 updated COVID vaccine is the best protection against severe COVID illness and death,” Herman wrote. “The vast majority (95 percent of adults) hospitalized with COVID-19 recently did not receive the 2023-24 updated vaccine, which became available in September 2023. The likelihood of developing long COVID symptoms is decreased in those who received the 2023-24 updated COVID-19 vaccine.”

He added, “It is safe; the benefits of the vaccine far outweigh any risks from the vaccine.”

Grosser emphasized the importance of an additional dose of the updated COVID-19 vaccine, particularly for older adults and those who are immunocompromised.