It’s been a brutal influenza season throughout the United States. Flu rates are at their highest point in at least the last 15 years, making it likely that you ― or someone you know ― have or will come in contact with the virus.
There are two broad types of influenza — flu A and flu B — and many strains within those, but the current spike in flu cases is being driven by flu A, said Dr. Daniel R. Kuritzkes, the chief of the division of infectious diseases at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
For many people, flu symptoms consist of fever, body aches and intense tiredness that make regular tasks impossible to complete. For others, though, flu can develop into more serious complications.
Doctors are especially concerned about this recent flu A spike. Here’s what they’re alarmed about the most:
Medical experts are concerned that rates are the highest they’ve been in over a decade.
As mentioned, flu rates are at 15-year highs in the U.S., and we’re currently in the season’s second flu spike. While it’s not uncommon to have a second spike in the late winter, the level at which people are getting sick isn’t normal, Kuritzkes said.
“To put some numbers on it, at least here in Massachusetts, around 20 to 24% or so of emergency department visits in the last couple of weeks have been due to acute respiratory illness, and about 9% of those are due to flu A, and by comparison, less than 1% of visits have been due to either COVID or RSV,” Kuritzkes explained. So, most people who are sick right now are sick with flu, not another virus.
“Initially I was optimistic it would be a good flu season since it started late this year, but now we are at levels we have not seen in years,” said Dr. Scott Roberts, an infectious disease doctor at Yale Medicine in Connecticut told HuffPost via email.
“We are continuing to increase, so I do not know when this current flu wave will peak,” Roberts continued. He hopes the worst is behind us, but it could still be yet to come.
They’re also worried that flu vaccination rates in children are low.
As of November 2024, flu vaccination rates in kids were lower than the same time in previous years. According to NBC News, 37% of kids in 2024 had gotten the jab compared to 43% in 2023.
While Kuritzkes said he hadn’t heard this statistic specifically, he noted that it could certainly have an impact on flu rates in the country.
“Children are much more likely to be in close physical contact with each other, especially very young children who may be in day care or preschool, as well as elementary-school-age kids,” he said. “And kids who contract influenza in a school setting may then bring it home and cause the influenza to spread throughout the household.”
The low vaccination rates also align with the “general increased vaccine hesitancy that we’ve seen over the last couple of years,” Kuritzkes said.
While children often have less severe illness than older adults or those with certain medical conditions, it’s still important for kids to get vaccinated, he added.
“There are some children who have medical conditions that place them at risk for severe flu, and also because children can serve as a vector for spread of influenza,” Kuritzkes explained.
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Experts say hospitalizations are increasing, and it’s unclear when they’ll peak.
Multiple states are reporting high flu hospitalizations and emergency department visits this month. And experts don’t expect that to change much in the coming days.
“Nationwide hospitalizations are still increasing,” Roberts said. “Right now, rates are similar to other seasons and not past the peak of a few prior seasons, but the concern now is that the trajectory is continuing to go up, so we don’t know where the plateau will be.”
According to Roberts, “Hospitalizations lag behind positive tests by a few weeks, so I would expect [hospitalization] rates to continue to increase for the next few weeks at a minimum.”
Flu deaths are higher than COVID deaths for the first time since the pandemic.
According to new data published by the Centers for Disease Control and reported by CBS, flu deaths were higher than COVID-19 deaths during the final week of January. This marks the first time flu deaths have exceeded COVID deaths since the start of the pandemic.
While this is concerning, Kuritzkes pointed out that “we are not, to my knowledge, seeing more severe influenza.”
“I’ve not seen any data to suggest that the rate of mortality [has] increased. Of course, deaths will increase with the number of cases, but … there’s nothing to suggest that this is a more severe strain of influenza compared to previous years,” he said. “It’s just that many more people are getting sick.”
If you already had the flu this season, you still need to be cautious.
Since flu rates have been so elevated this year, there’s a chance you’ve already had the virus this winter. But that doesn’t mean you’re protected from flu as this surge continues.
Both experts say it’s possible for people who had the flu earlier in the season to get infected with another strain, but it’s rare to get infected with the same strain twice in one winter.
To keep yourself healthy, Kuritzkes recommended that you get the flu shot even if you’d had the flu this year. It can help protect you from other strains of the virus.
Everyone should protect themselves during this spike.
Both experts underscored the importance of getting your flu shot if you haven’t already. “If you are unvaccinated, I hope you are waiting in line for a flu shot while reading this article,” Roberts said.
“It’s not too late to get vaccinated because we expect the flu is going to continue to circulate through March, if not into early April,” Kuritzkes noted.
Beyond vaccination, you can protect yourself from flu the same way you protect yourself from other respiratory viruses: washing your hands, wearing a mask in crowded indoor spaces, and staying away from people who are coughing and sneezing.
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If you are one of the many people who get sick with the flu this season, talk to your doctor as soon as you notice symptoms. There are flu medications available, but they’re best started early in the course of your sickness, Kuritzkes said.
There are still a few months left in a particularly rough flu season — be sure to do all that you can to keep yourself, your loved ones and your neighbors healthy.
