"At least 11 million people have contracted the flu so far this season and 5,000 people have died, according to data released Monday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Doctor and emergency department visits for flu-like illness are at the highest levels since before the pandemic hit in 2020, and the agency classified the current outbreak as "moderately severe" for the first time during the last week of 2025."
"The surging flu activity across the US is being driven largely by a new variant, dubbed the super flu. It is a mutation of the common H3N2 influenza strain, and shots that are now available appear to be a poor match for it. "We're far from a peak in the US," said virologist Andy Pekosz from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. "We don't know really how strong this virus is and how long it will be able to persist in the population.""
"It's become a serious problem for children and teenagers. More than 8% of emergency department visits during the last week of the year were because of influenza, according to the CDC. That climbed to more than 20% of visits for kids 5 to 17 years old, and 18% for children under the age of 4, data from the public health agency showed. Nine children have already died from the flu this season."
At least 11 million people have contracted influenza this season in the US, and about 5,000 deaths have been reported, according to CDC data. Doctor and emergency department visits for flu-like illness are at their highest levels since before the 2020 pandemic, and the outbreak was classified as moderately severe during the last week of 2025. A new H3N2 mutation, dubbed the super flu, is driving widespread activity and appears poorly matched to current vaccines. Vaccine uptake among adults is under 43%. Children and teenagers are disproportionately affected, with high emergency visit shares and nine child deaths so far.
Read at The Mercury News
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