This flu season has been particularly brutal, and it isn’t showing signs of letting up.
Since October, there have been at least 24 million cases in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated that there have been as many as 650,000 hospitalizations, which would make it the highest hospitalization level since 2017. Many parts of the country are reporting “high” or “very high” flu rates.
The high case counts right now are striking, given that this is the time of year when flu typically starts to slow down, said Dr. Susan R. Russell, medical director at the medical intensive-care unit at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. But Dr. Russell said she was still seeing a flood of patients in the hospital sick with the flu.
Dr. Donald Dumford, an infectious-disease doctor at the Cleveland Clinic, said, “A couple of weeks ago, I was saying, ‘Oh, we’ve hit our peak, it’s going to start going down.’”
“And then I got fooled,” he added.
It’s not entirely clear why the current flu season has been so severe. Doctors said vaccination rates have not been as high as they would like to see: Roughly 46 percent of children and a similar share of adults have received a flu vaccination so far this season, according to preliminary C.D.C. data. Flu shots reduce the chance of infection, and might also help limit the spread of the virus to others.
And some share of the cases could be a lingering consequence of pandemic lockdowns, when transmission of many common viruses slowed down as people practiced social distancing, Dr. Russell said. Our immune systems may still be out of practice after not having to fend off respiratory diseases during that time.
Some people are at high risk of becoming seriously ill and developing complications from an infection from the flu. This includes people who are very young or very old, or who have underlying lung or neurological disorders. Those with obesity, heart disease or high blood pressure are also at increased risk of severe illness, as are pregnant women.
Emergency department visits linked to flu have spiked in recent weeks among children under the age of 4. Rates of hospitalization for the flu are increasing among all age groups, but adults 65 and older are going to the hospital in particularly high numbers.
Dr. Brad Uren, an emergency medicine doctor at University of Michigan Health, said that his own child was at home sick with the flu this week. “That created extra child care burdens,” he said. “But knowing that it could have prevented some other kid from getting sick and bringing it home to their grandparent — that’s why you do it.”
Flu season typically ends in May, which means it isn’t too late for a flu shot. (Just remember that it takes a couple of weeks for antibodies to kick in.) Vaccination can reduce the risk of being hospitalized for the flu, and it can make symptoms less severe.
Common sense precautions — like washing your hands frequently, or wearing a mask in crowded, poorly ventilated areas — can also reduce your risk, doctors said. The flu spreads through tiny droplets filled with the virus that spray into the air when an infected person talks, sneezes, coughs or even laughs. Those droplets can cling to surfaces like doorknobs and countertops, where they can infect people who touch them and then touch their nose, eyes or mouth.
You should also stay home when you don’t feel well, to prevent potentially spreading the virus.
After you’re exposed to the flu, it generally takes one to four days to start feeling sick. Sometimes people are contagious starting on the day before they develop symptoms, which can include fever, chills, coughing, headaches and muscle aches. A bout of flu can leave you feeling wiped out, and might also make your nose clogged or runny. People with the flu are typically contagious for around a week.
The symptoms of flu may sound similar to those caused by another viral infection: Covid-19. New combination at-home tests can help determine which virus you have. And while Covid remains a threat, the United States is experiencing its mildest winter wave of the virus yet. Preliminary data from the last week of January, in fact, shows that a slightly greater percentage of people may have died from the flu than from Covid.
“The dominant virus infection that we’re seeing this year is the flu,” Dr. Russell said.
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