TOPEKA — Health officials urge Kansans to get booster shots before the holidays, warning of a “trifecta” of illnesses spreading this year, including flu, respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, and COVID-19, and a limited number of hospital beds available to treat these illnesses.
Only 10.2% of Kansans have received a bivalent booster shot, according to data provided by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. The number of Kansans who completed a vaccination series is sitting at 57.2%.
None of the counties in Kansas has a vaccination rate of more than 70%. Johnson County has the highest vaccination rate, at 68.6%, and the lowest is in Doniphan County, which is at 33.3% vaccination, according to KDHE data.
Steven Stites, chief medical officer at the University of Kansas Health System, said the numbers weren’t good during a Wednesday morning update on viral illnesses. He said Kansans should begin taking precautions, such as social distancing, masking and updating their booster shots.
“Something wicked this way comes, it feels like, when we just keep thinking about these different viral processes — be it flu, RSV and COVID,” Stites said.
The system treated 56 COVID-19 patients Wednesday, with four COVID-19 patients in the ICU and one patient on a ventilator. Statewide, since Dec. 7, there have been 10 new COVID-related deaths and 4,153 new COVID-19 cases. From Nov. 30 to Dec. 7, there were 4,256 new COVID-19 cases reported, along with 13 new deaths.
Kansas has recorded 9,702 COVID-19 related deaths, with older demographics the most at risk. The median age for Kansans who died of COVID-19 is 77, according to the KDHE fatality summary.
Health officials said they were concerned about the declining number of adults older than 65 who received the bivalent booster. In a Dec. 9 update on the Kansas COVID-19 situation, Jessica Kalender-Rich, a generic medicine specialist within the University of Kansas System, said older people were at higher risk of serious illness.
“We are definitely seeing more patients that are older get sicker,” Kalender-Rich said. “And whether that’s duration out from the vaccine or how their immune systems really respond as they change, as we age, either way, we’re seeing certainly a higher risk for those older adults.”
While COVID-19 is more contagious than the flu, many people are predicted to be affected by the flu this season.
Both COVID-19 and the flu can cause fatigue, fevers, coughs and shortness of breath. People most vulnerable to flu complications are young children, people with pre-existing health conditions, pregnant people and those older than 65.
“We are seeing a lot of sick kids each day — the respiratory illness season started earlier than usual and is hitting our region hard,” said Jennifer Watts, chief emergency management medical officer with Children’s Mercy Kansas City, in a Dec. 9 news release. “Like many pediatric hospitals, Children’s Mercy has been at or near capacity and we have not yet reached the peak of flu cases this winter.”
During Wednesday’s KU Health briefing, Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control for the system, said there has been a recent decline in RSV cases and hospitalizations, but influenza cases are still high.
“Overall, still a more significant number of hospitalizations for influenza itself than we have seen previously probably in most of our careers,” Hawkinson said.
