Colorado is more than halfway through the annual flu season, and thanks to the aggressive public health measures taken to combat COVID-19 along with an uptick in vaccinations, the state has seen a staggering drop in serious influenza cases and deaths.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has recorded a total of 23 hospitalizations so far this flu season, which began Sept. 27 and will run through May 22.
By this time last year, 2,430 people had been hospitalized statewide with the flu. Colorado recorded 3,546 total flu hospitalizations across all 64 counties during the 2019-20 season.
Colorado has seen no pediatric flu deaths so far this season, as well as no outbreaks in long-term care facilities, according to state health department data. Three children under the age of 18 died of the flu in Colorado during the 2019-20 flu season.
Only one pediatric flu death has been reported nationwide this season, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. By contrast, the CDC reports that the 2019-20 season saw a record-tying high of 188 flu-related deaths in children across the U.S.