Doctors’ visits for flu-like symptoms — fevers, sore throat, extreme fatigue and body aches — have hit the highest level in nearly 30 years, according to the latest stats issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and are likely to continue to rise in the coming weeks.
As NBC News reports, it’s not just a simple stomach bug that has the medical community alarmed. At least 5,000 people have died this season, including nine children.
The Stats Are Staggering
For the week ending Dec. 27, the CDC reported that nearly 1 in 10 outpatient visits nationwide — 8.2% — were for flu-like illnesses. That’s the highest logged since the CDC started tracking such visits in 1997. The flu has also accounted for more than 11 million illnesses this season and 120,000 hospitalizations.
Forty-five states – that’s a whopping 90% of the nation – are experiencing high to very high levels of flu activity. Only Montana, South Dakota, Vermont and West Virginia are experiencing low to moderate flu spread. Data for Nevada was “insufficient,” the agency said.
The Worst is Likely Yet to Come
And the worst is likely yet to come, Because the latest data is from the week of Christmas, it doesn’t yet reflect illnesses caused by holiday travel and gatherings. “It’s still too soon to know what the impact of the holiday season is going to be on flu activity,” said Krista Kniss, an epidemiologist in the CDC’s influenza division. “We’re not anywhere close to being done.”
Dr. Nick Cozzi, emergency medical services director for Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, said the flu is keeping his team “incredibly busy.” “I see a lot of patients coming in with cough, runny nose, shortness of breath, diarrhea and bone-chilling body aches,” he said.
Other Viruses are Compounding the Problem
Compounding the problem, many patients are dealing with other viruses, like Covid or RSV, on top of flu, Cozzi said. A significant number of patients, he said, are also having trouble breathing. “We’re admitting patients at a higher rate than we normally do,” he said. “Their oxygen levels are lower than normal, creating a potential situation which can be life-threatening unless they receive supplemental oxygen.”
At Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, flu hospitalizations more than doubled in the last two weeks compared with the previous two-week period, said Dr. Emily Boss, director of pediatric otolaryngology at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. “This rise is earlier than last year by about a month,” Boss said. “We don’t know yet what the peak will look like compared to prior seasons.”
HHS no longer recommends flu shots for all kids
The 2025-26 flu season, which is just getting started, follows the deadliest season for children since the CDC began tracking pediatric deaths. On Monday, the CDC reported an additional death of a child last season, bringing the total to 289, eclipsing even the number of pediatric deaths from the 2009 H1N1 pandemic.
It’s too soon to know how harsh this season will be for children, although under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s guidance, the U.S. is no longer recommending that all children get annual flu shots.
In spite of the surge, on the day the new flu data was released the Department of Health and Human Services announced a major overhaul of the childhood vaccination schedule. Effective immediately, the administration said, the flu vaccine will be taken off of the official childhood vaccine schedule, even though of January 6, the CDC’s website still stated: “Everyone 6 months and older, with rare exceptions, should get a flu vaccine.”
“To back off on a flu recommendation in the midst of a pretty severe flu year seems to me to be pretty tone-deaf,” Dr. Sean O’Leary, chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ committee on infectious diseases, said on a call with reporters. “And that’s coming off an influenza year where we had the most childhood deaths from influenza in many years.”
Subclade K
The new flu strain – subclade K, which represents most viruses analyzed by labs – seems to be another major reason for the intensity. Medical experts that this strain is just different enough from the flu viruses people have been exposed to in the past to get around our immune defenses.
Subclade K began to spread after strains were chosen for this year’s flu shots, which means the vaccines probably offer only partial protection against it. Still, if the flu shot can mediate the disease’s severity, the difference between feeling lousy for a few days and ending up in the hospital might be worth the trouble of getting vaccinated.
It’s Not Too Late to Vaccinate
Doctors say that the HHS recommendations and a rising vaccine hesitancy are likely to blame for the current deadly surge in the flu’s severity, including hospitalizations, and deaths. Flu vaccinations have been dropping in children, from a high of 53% over the 2019-20 flu season to 42% at the same point this season. Shots are also down in adults, from nearly 61 million in 2019-20 to roughly 48 million this year, CDC data shows.
“In the next 48 hours, if you haven’t been vaccinated, get vaccinated. Don’t wait,” said Dr. Michael Osterholm who directs the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. “You know, you may still be able to protect yourself from the the last parts of the seasonal epidemic, but you know, it takes us, seven to 10 days to develop some immunity relative to the vaccine, and so you don’t have a lot of time to waste,” he added.
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