{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Radio Chatskill","title":"What to Know as New York Experiences Its Most Intense Flu Season on Record","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":660,"description":"New York is experiencing its most intense flu season on record, with hospitalizations jumping 24% in a single week, according to state health officials. The spike comes as flu activity remains extremely high across the Hudson Valley and Catskills — and experts say the season hasn’t yet reached its peak.“Flu activity currently in Orange and Sullivan counties is extremely high,” said Dr. Jodi Galaydick, an epidemiologist at Garnet Health. “Just last week the state reported over 71,000 lab-confirmed flu cases in a single week, and this has been the highest number ever recorded in one week in New York.”Galaydick said this season is running well ahead of what doctors typically expect for late December and early January.“We’re running higher than what we typically run at this time of the year,” she said. “We haven’t even hit peak yet. We’re already above last year’s peak, so we’re seeing a lot more cases earlier in the season.”Why cases are rising so quicklySeveral factors are fueling the surge, Galaydick said, including increased holiday travel and gatherings, along with multiple respiratory viruses circulating at once.“We’re just seeing a lot more virus circulating in the community,” she said. “We also see more than just flu this time of the year. We’re still seeing COVID and RSV. And also this year, not as many people have received the vaccine as in years past.”While flu cases are up sharply, Galaydick said the illness itself does not appear more severe than usual.“Cases don’t seem to be more severe,” she said. “But with more cases, you’re going to have more people getting hospitalized just because of the amount of flu that’s in the community.”That increase in hospitalizations is putting pressure on local hospitals and emergency rooms.“Whenever we have any type of surge, there’s more of an influx into the hospital,” Galaydick said. “There’s delays in care. There’s waits in the emergency room because there’s not beds available.”Who is most at riskPeople at higher...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/q7XXsnSXT_u4mZLCn3chUorwDmUD_kWiB272D6emB18/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS80N2Uy/OGY5MWUwZThkYTEw/NDVkZGM2ZGZkZDIw/ZjliOS5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}