North Dakota Health and Human Services is partnering with Cass County Public Health and other health partners to encourage North Dakotans to prepare for the upcoming respiratory illness season.
Severe illness from influenza, COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV lead to missed school and work, unplanned doctor visits, hospitalizations and increased health care costs. Dr. Avish Nagpal is Infectious Disease Physician and Medical Director of Infection Prevention at Sanford Health. He says last year, the strain on medical services was apparent.
“We’ve had about 500 influenza hospitalizations during the 2023-2024 season, we had about 100 COVID-19 related deaths last season, and overall nationwide we had about 200 influenza related pediatric deaths. So these are not common cold viruses – these viruses, when they cause infection, do lead to significant morbidity and mortality. We encourage everybody to get vaccinated.”
Nagpal says vaccines are available for influenza, COVID-19 and RSV – and they have shown to be effective at preventing severe illness in patients of all ages.
Vaccines for RSV are new; they were available in limited quantities last season, but widely available this year. Dr. Tracie Newman is a pediatrician, and is Health Officer at Fargo Cass Public Health. She says up to 90 percent of children will have contracted RSV before they turn two; and it can be very serious. She says every year, between 100 and 300 children under the age of five die nationwide after contracting RSV.
“We do have two forms of protection this season – both highly safe and effective. The first form is for pregnant women to receive a maternal vaccine toward the end of their pregnancy, if it’s in that season. And that provides protection for our youngest infants against this virus. And we also now have RSV immunization for all infants under the age of eight months, and some older infants who remain at higher risk if they are entering or during their first season of RSV. These products worked extremely well last season, reducing the risk of severe disease by up to 96 percent.”
North Dakotans are urged to speak with their health care providers about getting up to date on these vaccinations this season. At the beginning of October, a vaccine locator and data dashboard on flu, COVID-19 and RSV can be found on the Health and Human Services website.