Alongside most of the nation, Colorado has seen a spike in flu infections and hospitalizations at levels the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said surpass the last 15 flu seasons.
The CDC reported at the start of February that this 2024 to 2025 flu season, thus far, has yielded at least 24 million infections, over 300,000 hospitalizations and 13,000 deaths — 57 of those dead being under 18 years old.
In Mesa County, the rate of flu hospitalizations has consistently declined since it peaked (10 people hospitalized per 100,000 population) in the first week of January.
As of Feb. 4, the flu hospitalization rate fell to just under six per 100,000 people, equivalent to the county’s highest COVID-19 hospitalization rates this season, around Dec. 10 and Jan. 21.
However, the flu hospitalization rate did not rise until early December, so this season’s number of hospitalizations for the flu and COVID-19 are equivalent, at around 55 hospitalizations each.
Between Feb. 5 and 12, just under 380 Coloradans were admitted to the hospital — 46 fewer people than the week prior.
At the same time, the percentage of positive flu tests continued its overall upward trend from 0.7% (of about 2,700 tests) in mid-October to nearly 25% (of about 7,500 tests) by Feb. 8.
While the ideal time to receive a flu vaccination is mid to late October, the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases reported that it isn’t too late to get vaccinated if the virus is still circulating.
Beyond rare exceptions, the CDC advised anyone older than 6 months to obtain a flu vaccine, especially older adults. The CDC added that flu vaccines not only prevent infection, they reduce the severity of infection and the likelihood of hospitalization and death.
Vaccines for the flu (plus COVID-19, RSV and more) are available at the Mesa County Public Health Clinic, most retail pharmacies and many primary care provider clinics.
Last Monday, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser — alongside attorneys general from 21 other states — filed a lawsuit aiming to reverse recent funding cuts to universities and institutions conducting medical and public health research.
The legal challenge concerns the National Institutes of Health’s announcement (advised by the Trump administration) on Feb. 7 that every research institution will see a 15% reduction in indirect cost reimbursements the following business day.
According to a press release from Weiser’s office, indirect cost reimbursements cover biomedical research expenses, including labs, faculty, infrastructure and utility costs.
The NIH is also the primary source of federal funds for U.S. medical research, previously bankrolling the development of the MRI, the first DNA sequencing and new cancer treatments.
Larry Robinson / The Daily Sentinel
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser talks with District 51 Superintendent Brian Hill before a roundtable to discuss District 51’s implementation and strategies for its new district wide phone policy that began earlier this year, as well as announce that school districts working toward updated and impactful phone policies will receive up to $50,000 in funding, at Grand Junction High School on Sept. 20, 2024.
Larry Robinson / The Daily Sentinel
“We have world-class medical research in Colorado that has transformed healthcare and improved countless lives,” Weiser said. “This illegal action cutting NIH funding — taken abruptly, recklessly, without reflecting on its painful impact, and with no justification for a dramatic change — will harm Colorado universities, undermine important research efforts, and damage our economy.”
The press release added that NIH’s reimbursement cut will deduct nearly $90 million across three Colorado research campuses: Colorado State University, the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and the University of Colorado Boulder.
The lawsuit argues that the reimbursement decrease violated the Administrative Procedure Act, which dictates how federal agencies can develop and issue regulations. One of the act’s directives denies NIH the ability to issue “categorical and indiscriminate changes to indirect cost reimbursements.”
The lawsuit names the Trump administration, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institutes of Health as defendants.
“Government agencies are required to act fairly and reasonably, ensuring that affected parties have notice of potentially dramatic changes and an opportunity to be heard,” Weiser said.
Health Headlines is a Sentinel feature compiled by Jace DiCola, health and wellness reporter. Email him at jace.dicola@gjsentinel.com