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The U.S. is experiencing its first 'high severity' flu season in seven years, with over 37 million infections and 21,000 deaths reported since October 2023. Contributing factors include the dominance of more severe influenza A strains and declining vaccination rates, particularly among children. Experts warn that the flu season may continue for months, and it is still advisable for individuals to get vaccinated.

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Amanda Johnson
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8 views

fluby

The U.S. is experiencing its first 'high severity' flu season in seven years, with over 37 million infections and 21,000 deaths reported since October 2023. Contributing factors include the dominance of more severe influenza A strains and declining vaccination rates, particularly among children. Experts warn that the flu season may continue for months, and it is still advisable for individuals to get vaccinated.

Uploaded by

Amanda Johnson
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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y is the flu so bad this year?

Katie Camero
Sat, March 1, 2025 at 6:35 AM GMT+8·5 min read
372

Image: Southern California Residents Line Up For Flu


Shots At Local Library (Mario Tama / Getty Images file)
Data released Thursday by the CDC suggests this
season’s vaccine’s effectiveness is on par with previous
years.
The U.S. is in the midst of its first “high severity” flu
season in seven years.

Since October, there have been at least 37 million


infections, 480,000 hospitalizations and 21,000 deaths,
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said
Friday. As of last week, 98 children have died from
influenza, the CDC reported. In some states, flu surges
have been so bad that schools and entire districts have
had to close down.

The U.S. has also seen the highest rate of doctors visits
for flu-like illnesses overall — which include influenza,
Covid and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) — in 15 years.
While flu activity has slowed in recent weeks, experts
warn that the season isn’t over yet.

“We may have months of disease and illness in front of


us,” said Dr. Susan Donelan, an infectious disease doctor
and medical director of health care epidemiology at Stony
Brook Medicine in New York.

Although experts don’t know exactly why the flu seems


so bad this year, they say several factors may be to
blame.

The circulating strains are more severe


Two types of influenza A viruses — H1N1 and H3N2 —
have dominated this year’s flu season, according to the
CDC. Some experts, including Donelan, say these strains
tend to spread more quickly and cause more severe
disease, which could explain this season’s intensity so far.

H3N2, specifically, is known for mutating more frequently


than other influenza strains, which can “make it more
difficult for our bodies to recognize that particular virus
even if we’ve been in contact with it or immunized
against it before,” said Taj Azarian, an epidemiologist and
assistant professor of genomics at the University of
Central Florida. “As a result, we can be more susceptible
to getting sick.”

By default, those mutations could also make flu vaccines


— which are formulated months before the beginning of
the season they’re intended for — less effective, said
Robert Bednarczyk, an epidemiologist and associate
professor of global health at Emory University in Atlanta.

However, data released Thursday by the CDC suggests


this season’s vaccine’s effectiveness is on par with
previous years.

Early estimates from this season found that children and


teens who were vaccinated and later got the flu were
63%-78% less likely to be hospitalized; vaccinated adults
were 41%-55% less likely to be hospitalized because of
the flu, according to the CDC report.

The vaccine is “overall a very good match” this year


because it protects against all three strains that are
circulating, said Dr. Inessa Gendlina, an infectious disease
doctor with the Montefiore Health System in New York.
Flu vaccination rates continue to drop
Flu vaccines reduce the odds of severe illnesses,
hospitalizations and deaths — yet vaccination rates have
fallen since the Covid pandemic, according to the CDC.
This alarming trend, experts say, could help explain why
this flu season is so severe.

While vaccination rates among adults are similar


compared to this time last year — around 45% — CDC
data shows, the difference among children “is most
striking,” Azarian said.

As of Feb. 15, about 46% of kids had received a flu shot;


about 51% were vaccinated by this time last year.
Overall, flu vaccination coverage dropped 8 percentage
points from about 63% to 55% from the pre-pandemic
2019-2020 season to the 2023-2024 season.

“That’s a pretty significant drop,” Azarian said.

We may have lost some immunity to the flu over the


years
The steps we took to prevent Covid infection, such as
wearing masks and social distancing, may have
weakened our immunity to the flu — another potential
reason influenza is hitting us so hard this year, Gendlina
said.

“We’ve been masking quite a bit in the last five years,


which prevents influenza spread. So we don’t have as
much immunological memory going from year to year as
we’ve had in the past,” she said. “Not having that
memory isn’t in our favor in terms of how this influenza
season pans out.”

Now that fewer people are wearing masks, respiratory


viruses like influenza are free to spread, Gendlina said.

It’s not too late to get a flu shot


Although flu activity is decreasing, experts say there’s no
telling when this flu season might end or whether there
will be another surge in cases. That means there’s plenty
of time to get a flu shot if you haven’t yet, Donelan said.

In fact, national wastewater samples are showing a


“steady increase” in influenza B concentrations,
according to Amanda Bidwell, the scientific program
manager at WastewaterSCAN. It’s too early to say if
we’ve hit a peak with this strain, she added.
Gendlina said the threat of a new wave is reason enough
to get vaccinated if you haven’t already.

Even if you’ve already had the flu this year, it’s still a
good idea to get vaccinated if you haven’t gotten the
shot, Donelan said. Because there are three flu viruses
spreading right now, you can still get sick with either of
the other two.

Donelan said people should talk to their doctors about


their personal risks of a severe infection. In some cases,
she said, people might be able to get a prescription for
the antiviral medication Tamiflu ahead of time so they
have it if they do catch the virus. (Tamiflu must be taken
within two days of feeling sick.)

In the meantime, stay home when ill, wash yo

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