More patients sick with the flu are visiting Bangor-area health care centers this winter compared with last year.
Brewer-based Northern Light Health hospitalized more people in Penobscot County because of flu-like illness compared with this time last year, according to Andrew Donovan, Northern Light’s associate vice president of infection prevention.
At St. Joseph Hospital in Bangor, the rate of people testing positive for the flu has surpassed what the hospital saw during peak flu season last year, according to McCaela Prentice, the hospital’s infection preventionist.
Penobscot County isn’t alone in this trend. Infection rates are rising in 10 of Maine’s 16 counties, according to data the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention released on Wednesday.
Last week, 62 Mainers were hospitalized for the flu across the state, bringing this season’s flu hospitalization total to 296 patients, according to the Maine CDC. At the same time last year, 252 people had been hospitalized due to the flu.
Health care experts believe the growing number of infections is due to fewer people getting vaccinated and multiple illnesses spreading simultaneously. Donovan, for example, credited the rise in hospitalizations at Northern Light to both influenza and the common cold.
This year’s case count is similar to what the state saw in the 2022-23 season, Prentice said.
St. Joseph Hospital noted a roughly 25 percent flu positivity rate earlier this month, which surpassed the 18 percent positivity rate the hospital documented when flu cases were at their highest last winter. However, the hospital’s peak positivity rate during the 2022-23 season hovered around 26 percent, Prentice said.
St. Joseph Hospital noticed more people testing positive for the flu in late December, which health care workers credited to Mainers gathering and traveling for the holidays.
Nationally, flu cases appeared to peak in January this year, Prentice said, which is later than last year. Typically, flu rates spike between December and February.
While it’s common for Mainers to get sick in the winter, Prentice said the flu could be circulating more because fewer people got vaccinated against it this season. For example, roughly 44 percent of children between 6 months and 17 years old got the flu vaccine, which is 4 percent lower than last year.
“This is the lowest [vaccine] uptake rate we have seen when compared to the past five years,” Prentice said.
Other respiratory viruses with similar symptoms to the flu are circulating in Maine as well, Prentice said.
COVID-19 is still around too, Donovan said, but cases are lower this winter after the region saw a swell of the virus last summer. More people appear to be getting vaccinated against COVID-19 compared with last year.
Similarly, Amy Barrett, Penobscot Community Health Care’s pediatric medical director, believes the spike in cases is due to two strains of the flu spreading at the same time earlier in the season than usual.
For those looking to stay healthy, medical professionals from Northern Light and St. Joseph’s Hospital had the same advice: wash your hands frequently, get plenty of rest, stay hydrated, wear a mask in crowded, indoor spaces, and get vaccinated against the flu and COVID-19.
“Flu rates are high, but there is still plenty we can do to help prevent the spread in our community,” Prentice said. “Seasonal vaccines are one of the best ways to keep yourself and loved ones safe.”
If someone is already sick, health care professionals recommend staying home to avoid infecting others. If someone must go out in public but is experiencing symptoms, Prentice said wearing a face mask is the best way to avoid getting others sick.
