Flu activity is very high across Illinois and COVID cases are also trending upward coming out of Christmas week, the Illinois Department of Public Health reported.

Hospital admissions doubled over the week of Dec. 21-27 from the prior week, the state said.

Eight percent of all emergency room visits were due to the flu and 19.4% were due to overall acute respiratory cases, the IDPH said.

Admissions to intensive care units for flu cases nearly doubled in hospitals reporting the data, the IDPH said.

Most of the hospital admissions due to flu are in children ages 5 to 17 and 29.9% of all acute respiratory admissions are in that same age group. Only 15% of children ages 5 to 17 have received the flu vaccine, according to the last information data from the IDPH

The next most affected demographic are those aged 65 and older, representing 7% of flu-related hospital admissions. More than 47% of adults in this age group have received the flu vaccine, the state said.

Only 1 in 5 Illinois residents overall has received the flu vaccine, and only 5% have received the updated COVID-19 shot, according to the latest data from the IDPH.

The number of residents who have received the flu shot through the end of November was at 21.9%, down 4% from this time a year ago and reflecting a consistent downward trend in people getting vaccinated over the past five years.