POLK COUNTY, Iowa — Hospitalization rates in Iowa the past four weeks have increased by 250% for influenza, 58% for COVID-19 and 60% for RSV in the U.S., according to the CDC.
As cases continue to rise, one Iowa family is stressing the importance of paying attention to your symptoms, especially when it comes to the flu.
The McCarthy family's lives changed when their 3-year-old, Ayzlee McCarthy, woke up with a fever, but no respiratory symptoms.
"So I took her to our local clinic, and they wanted to swab her for flu," said Amber McCarthy, Ayzlee's mom. "I'm a respiratory therapist, so I'm like, 'she doesn't need to be swabbed, she has no respiratory symptoms.'"
After that doctor's visit, Ayzlee was diagnosed with Influenza A and Influenza B.
"At the time, my biggest concern was, you know, 'we're all gonna get it,'" Amber said.
Within 48 hours, Ayzlee passed away.
"I never would've in a million years dreamed a healthy 3-year-old would pass away from the flu, and once Ayzlee passed away, it was kind of eye opening because you always want . . . [to know] why did this happen," Amber said.
Now the McCarthys are working to spread awareness and provide support for those who may have suddenly lost someone to the flu.
"My freshman year, I did a speech about how it's never really just the flu, and I really dug deep into stories that I got from Families Fighting Flu," said Irelynd McCarthy, Ayzlee's sister.
With family gatherings occurring around the holidays, nurses say now is an easy time for sicknesses to spread.
"We saw a surge in COVID going into Thanksgiving, so we knew following Thanksgiving it was going to be pretty bad," said Janae Brown, a nurse practitioner at Unity Point Health. "So we've seen a lot of COVID, some flu, some RSV, but mostly COVID as far as what we are testing for."
According to the CDC, 12.4% of Polk County residents are up to date with the COVID-19 vaccine, and 31.3% of Polk County residents got the updated flu shot.
While these numbers are somewhat promising, nurses are still stressing the importance of getting vaccinations.
"Always be aware, get your immunizations, if you're high risk, a young person, pregnant women, over 60 you can get your RSV shot now," Brown said.
Polk County Health Department Director Helen Eddy is urging the community to get their updated respiratory shots, adding, "Getting the updated shots will not only protect you, but protect our community’s health and prevent hospital overwhelm."