Dallas County health officials report declining respiratory virus peaks but flag vaccine gaps among Hispanic residents
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Summary
Public health staff said COVID activity remains low, wastewater surveillance shows declines from December peaks, and local flu positivity was about 10.7% for mid‑January; officials noted significant declines in vaccine uptake among Latino residents and urged continued outreach.
Dr. Wong, chair of the county’s Public Health Advisory Committee, briefed Commissioners Court on respiratory viruses on Feb. 3, saying local indicators show lower activity than recent peaks but that vaccination gaps remain a concern.
Wastewater surveillance and hospitalizations provide the county’s most reliable local signals, Dr. Wong said; for the week ending Jan. 17, approximately 10.7% of flu tests were positive and the county reported 92 flu‑associated hospitalizations. Pediatric flu hospitalizations nationally remain high; Dr. Wong noted that 90% of recent pediatric influenza deaths involved children who had not received a seasonal flu shot.
"Wastewater surveillance now seems to be, you know, some one of our most reliable ways of continuing to monitor given the lack of testing and reporting," Dr. Wong said. She also described trends showing lower vaccine uptake in the Hispanic community — in some measures approaching a roughly 50% decline in certain vaccine numbers — and attributed that in part to community concerns about data collection and access following extreme weather events.
Health staff said COVID activity remains relatively low locally, but the county continues to offer COVID, flu and RSV vaccines at outreach clinics. Dr. Wong urged residents, especially those at higher risk, to get up‑to‑date vaccinations.
Commissioners asked for additional local breakdowns and public dashboards; health staff said they maintain an online respiratory virus surveillance dashboard and will continue to report trends and outreach metrics to the court.
Next steps: Public Health will continue wastewater monitoring, maintain the online dashboard of respiratory virus indicators, and coordinate targeted outreach to communities with declining vaccine uptake.