EDMONTON, ALBERTA FEBRUARY 20: A sign encouraging flu vaccinations reads 'Get your free flu shot' in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, on February 20, 2025. (Photo by Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Roomies, the answer is NOPEyou’re not tripping! Flu season was definitely handing out whoopings over the holidays. And according to the Associated Press, health officials are calling it a severe season that is likely to get worse.
New government data, posted on Monday (Jan. 5), show flu activity through the week of Christmas. By some measures, this season is already surpassing the flu epidemic of last winter, one of the harshest in recent history. Forty-five states were reporting high or very high flu activity during the week of Christmas. The week before, the number of states was 30.
And roommates, COVID-19 is still around and causing chaos. In fact, COVID-19 infections have also been rising, according to other federal data. However, those infections remain less common than the flu.
Public health experts suggest that the type of flu currently spreading may be contributing to the higher numbers. One type of flu virus, called A (H3N2), has historically caused the most hospitalizations and deaths in older people. So far this season, that’s the type most frequently reported.
Even more concerning, more than 90% of the H3N2 infections analyzed were a new version. Known as the subclade K variant, it differs from the strain in this year’s flu shots. Flu seasons often don’t peak until January or February. So, it’s too early to know how big a problem that mismatch will be.
Last flu season was bad. The overall flu hospitalization rate was the highest since the H1N1 flu pandemic 15 years ago. Child flu deaths reached 288, the worst recorded for regular U.S. flu season.
Nine pediatric flu deaths have been reported so far this season. For children, the percentage of emergency department visits due to flu has already surpassed the highest mark seen during the 2024-2025 season. The percentage of doctor’s office and medical clinic visits that were due to flu-like illness was also higher late last month than at any point during the previous flu season.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates at least 11 million illnesses, 120,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths from flu have already occurred this season. So what can we do? The CDC recommends that everyone 6 months and older who has not yet been vaccinated this season get an annual influenza vaccine.
AP Medical Writer Mike Stobbe contributed to this report via AP Newsroom.
