Cold and flu season is here just in time for the holidays, and four years after the height of the COVID-19 pandemic health officials are concerned about wavering vaccination rates.
McLean County Health Department [MCHD] administrator Jessica McKnight said this is the time of year the county typically sees respiratory illnesses such the flu, COVID and RSV hit their peak.
“McLean County and even regionally, our hospitalizations and ER visits, they still remain low, but we are starting to see things like RSV and flu start to increase in slight upticks,” McKnight said in an interview on WGLT’s Sound Ideas.
Illinois also has seen a spike in whooping cough cases. That state ranks fourth in the country with more than 1,900 cases through November of this year — about three times higher than 2023. That includes 408 confirmed cases in October, the state’s highest monthly total in 20 years.
McKnight said McLean County has had some whooping cough cases this year, but she did not have updated data. She said cases are expected to increase as more people are socializing and taking fewer precautions than they were during the COVID pandemic.
McKnight stressed the need for the vaccinations, which she said have lagged since the height of the pandemic.
“We saw those vaccination rates go up [during COVID] and over time, we’ve seen them come back to pre-pandemic, so maybe people [are] forgetting what can happen and that we can get severely ill,” McKnight said.
Fewer than 1 in 10 McLean County residents [9.6%] has the current COVID vaccine, according to data from the Illinois Department of Public Health [IDPH]. That’s close to the state average of 9.4%, and lower than last year [13.1%].
About 1 in 5 [21%] in McLean County has received the flu shot this year.
Mobile clinic
MCHD plans to expand the use of its mobile health clinic in 2025.
McKnight said the department took the RV to 10 communities throughout McLean County this year in a “soft rollout” of the service. The clinic offers free blood pressure checks, A1C [diabetes] screenings, along with other screenings and health education to residents who may not have easy access to the department’s downtown Bloomington offices.
“It’s been exciting just to start small and we have hopes and plans to be able to do more with the mobile health unit,” said McKnight, adding the department would like to include vaccinations and STI [sexually transmitted infection] testing.
McKnight said communities interesting in bringing the county's mobile health clinic can fill out a request form on the health department website.
