Hospitals nationwide are reintroducing visitor restrictions reminiscent of Covid protocols as flu, Covid, and other respiratory infections see alarming increases.

In Georgia, St. Joseph’s/Candler has implemented visitor limitations due to the flu. Visitors who haven’t received a flu shot or exhibit symptoms must wear masks, and individuals under 18 are only permitted if they are the primary caretaker of a patient.

Starting Friday, December 26, hospitals in the Dayton, Ohio area will enforce temporary visitor restrictions due to a surge in respiratory illness cases. Anyone showing symptoms or under the age of 14 will not be allowed to visit.

In Marion County, Indiana, hospitals are enacting temporary visitor restrictions as flu and RSV cases rise. Beginning the week of December 22, visitors showing symptoms such as fever, cough, or sore throat will be denied entry, and those under 18 are not permitted.

Mask requirements are also seeing a resurgence. In New Jersey, major hospital systems like Hackensack Meridian Health and RWJ Barnabas Health have reinstated mask mandates for employees, patients, and visitors due to increasing cases of Covid, flu, and RSV.

New York State has mandated masks for unvaccinated healthcare workers in patient areas as the number of flu cases and related hospitalizations has more than doubled recently. Health officials are calling for vaccinations and preventive measures to manage the surge during the holiday period.

Flu hospitalizations have been climbing since early October but began to spike in mid-November. So far this season, the CDC estimates that at least 4.6 million flu illnesses have occurred. The agency estimates that there have been 49,000 hospitalizations and 1,900 deaths from the flu.

Covid, meanwhile, is regaining ground. Currently, nearly four percent of tests are coming back positive, up from three percent in early November.

Flu hospitalizations have been climbing since October and spiked in mid-November. So far this season, the CDC estimates at least 4.6 million illnesses, 49,000 hospitalizations and 1,900 deaths (stock)

The current flu crisis sweeping across several states is caused by the H3N2 subtype of influenza A, which has mutated so many times that the immune system does not recognize it.

Professor Andrew Pekosz with John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told Fox News: ‘We think this subclade K virus is evading population immunity, meaning more people are susceptible to infection.

‘It has mutations that may allow it to evade some but not all of the influenza vaccine-induced protection.’

A total of 927 influenza viruses were reported by public health laboratories last week, the highest level of positive cases so far this season. This is likely an undercount, as most people don’t. get tested for flu.

Of those, 911 were influenza A and 16 were influenza B. 

Of the 706 influenza A viruses that were subtyped, nearly 90 percent were influenza A H3N2.

Trevor Bedford, who also studies viral evolution at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, told CBS News that H3N2 tends to evolve faster than other influenza strains.

Bedford said: ‘I expect more H3 incidence than the typical year and poorer vaccine effectiveness.’

St. Joseph’s/Candler in Georgia is restricting visitors due to flu. Visitors without a flu shot or with symptoms must wear a mask, and no one under 18 is allowed unless they are a patient’s primary caretaker

Major hospital systems in New Jersey, including Hackensack Meridian Health and RWJ Barnabas Health, have reinstated mask mandates for staff, patients, and visitors in response to rising cases of Covid, flu and RSV

These large ‘jumps’ in how the virus appears to our immune system usually occur every three to four years, he said.

The virus has ravaged parts of Europe, the UK and Japan this year. Hospital admissions for flu are at a record for this time of year in England. 

High or very high activity is now being reported in at least 27 of the 38 countries being monitored by the WHO European Region.

Japan’s health authorities have declared an influenza epidemic, with thousands of people infected with the respiratory virus. 

The number of infections is unusual for this time of year, researchers say, and could seed outbreaks in countries that are heading into winter in Asia and Europe.

Scientists warn this year’s flu shot may offer reduced protection, as early data shows a mismatch between the vaccine strain and the dominant circulating virus, H3N2 subclade K.

The possibility of a mismatch between the vaccine and the circulating H3N2 strain is a major concern for flu experts. They are now watching carefully as flu activity begins to increase in earnest across North America.

However, health officials argue that getting a flu shot is still worthwhile because a mismatched vaccine is often still highly effective at preventing the worst outcomes. 

It may not stop someone from getting a mild case of the flu, but it significantly reduces the risk of severe illness, hospitalization and death by priming the immune system to fight the general virus family.

Dr Scott Hensley, a microbiologist and influenza vaccine scientist at the University of Pennsylvania, told Stat: ‘If there’s ever a year to get a flu vaccine, this is the year.’

Florian Krammer, a flu virologist at Mount Sinai’s Icahn School of Medicine in New York, added: ‘Here we had a very strong H3N2 season last year. And of course the virus changed, but there might be some protection from that H3N2 season.’