US Flu Surge activity across forty-five states, pushing doctor visits to their highest level in nearly thirty years, as at least five thousand people die this season, and federal officials roll back routine flu shot guidance for children.
Doctor Visits and Hospitalizations Climb Nationwide
Doctors’ visits for flu-like illness have reached levels not seen since the late 1990s, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For the week ending Dec. 27, flu-like symptoms accounted for 8.2% of all outpatient visits nationwide.
The CDC said the US flu Surge has caused more than eleven million illnesses so far this season. About one hundred twenty thousand people have been hospitalized, and at least five thousand have died, including nine children.
Forty-five states are reporting high to very high levels of flu activity. Only Montana, South Dakota, Vermont and West Virginia report low to moderate spread. Nevada did not have enough data to assess activity levels.
Because the data covers the week of Christmas, it does not yet reflect the effects of holiday travel and large gatherings. Health officials expect additional increases in the coming weeks.
“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.”
Hospitals See Early, Heavy Flu Burden
Hospitals across the country report a sharp rise in flu patients, many of whom are seriously ill. Emergency departments are seeing patients with high fevers, severe fatigue, and breathing problems.
Dr. Nick Cozzi, emergency medical services director at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, said the flu is keeping staff “incredibly busy.”
“We’re admitting patients at a higher rate than we normally do,” Cozzi said. “Their oxygen levels are lower than normal, which can become life-threatening without treatment.”
Cozzi said many patients are also infected with other viruses, including COVID and RSV, worsening symptoms and recovery times.
At Johns Hopkins Children’s Center in Baltimore, flu hospitalizations more than doubled over the past two weeks compared with the previous two-week period.
“This rise is earlier than last year by about a month,” said Dr. Emily Boss, director of pediatric otolaryngology at the hospital. “We don’t know yet what the peak will look like compared to prior seasons.”
Public health officials warn that early US flu surges often lead to longer, more severe flu seasons, especially if vaccination rates drop.
Vaccine Policy Shift Raises Concern for Children
The US flu surge comes as federal health officials change long-standing flu vaccination guidance for children. Under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Department of Health and Human Services has removed the flu vaccine from the official childhood immunization schedule.
The move follows the deadliest flu season for children on record. Last season, two hundred eighty-nine pediatric flu deaths were reported, the highest total since the CDC began tracking such cases and higher than during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic.
Dr. Sean O’Leary, who chairs the American Academy of Pediatrics’ committee on infectious diseases, criticized the timing of the policy change.
“To back off on a flu recommendation in the midst of a pretty severe flu year seems pretty tone-deaf,” O’Leary said.
The CDC website continues to state that everyone six months and older should receive a flu shot, with rare exceptions.
For families like that of three-year-old Naya Kessler, the risks are personal. Naya has been hospitalized with the flu since Wednesday at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento.
“She wasn’t taking anything in, and her fevers kept spiking,” said her mother, Kat Kessler. “There was just something telling me something was wrong.”
Kessler said her family received flu shots this year. “I can’t imagine how much worse this could have been if we didn’t,” she said.
