High on Health: This Flu Season May Be One of the Worst

What has brought on so many cases of influenza?

If this flu season feels different, that’s because it is. Doctors and public-health officials say the current outbreak is shaping up to be one of the most severe on record. The flu is hitting earlier, spreading faster, and sending more people to hospitals than usual. In fact, New York reportedly had the highest single-week cases of the nasty illness recorded since 2004, when influenza first became a reportable disease. And the season isn’t over yet.

Flu Cases on the Rise

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a report on December 30 saying flu activity is at “high” or “very high” levels in 32 states and jurisdictions. The week before, there were just 17 states reporting influenza. Flu season began in October. Since then, at least 7.5 million people have come down with the illness. In just one week, hospitalizations doubled from 9,944 to 19,053, and about 3,100 deaths have been reported. Pediatric deaths went from two the week before to five.

New York has been hit harder than most. The Empire State has seen hospitalizations from the flu rise by 63% with 189,312 reported cases this season. “We are seeing the highest number of flu cases ever recorded in a single week in New York state,” Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said in a press release.

CDC identified Colorado as another of the five states with the highest levels of flu activity. More than 2,400 people have been hospitalized since October. During Christmas week, there were 791 people hospitalized, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

“Some of them are sick enough that they need some oxygen and to be admitted, some are well enough to get treated and go home,” Dr. Jared Sustad, an emergency medicine physician at AdventHealth, told KDVR. “It’s a bit of a mixed bag.” He added: “I would expect that we’re going to keep seeing more of it, unfortunately.”

Other states high on the list are Louisiana, New Jersey, and South Carolina.

CDC has declared that the 2024-25 flu season is the most severe season since 2017-18. Many are dubbing this season’s strain as the “Super Flu,” but the actual name is “subclade K.”  Although officials say it is not necessarily a more dangerous variant, there are many more cases than usual.

Part of the problem is that the flu epidemic is happening earlier this year. In Japan, for example, the season usually runs from late December to February, but last year it started in late September.

Why Is This Season So Bad?

Why is this season so severe? It may be summed up in a single word: vaccinations. That’s what many officials claim, at least. But it isn’t just about getting this year’s shot; it’s also about the COVID pandemic. “The reason for the early outbreak is thought to be the decline in immunity of the population due to the countermeasures against new coronavirus infection (COVID-19), as well as a decline in physical strength due to the record-breaking heat wave,” Wired reported. “During the three years of the coronavirus pandemic, the influenza epidemic was largely suppressed. As a result, it is possible that population immunity to the virus was reduced. In fact, with the 2024 influenza pandemic in Australia at its highest level since 19 years, it would not be surprising to see a similar trend in the Northern Hemisphere.”

While health officials say they aren’t sure if the new K strain is causing cases to be more severe, Andrew Pekosz, co-director of the Johns Hopkins Center of Excellence in Influenza Research and Response, said in a December video briefing: “but what is clear is that the cases are increasing, and we’re seeing a lot of influenza cases increasing across the country, and that’s a trend we [are] sure will continue into the new year.”

The holidays are now behind us, but the effects are not. Officials warn that we will likely see more cases of the flu and other contagious diseases in the coming weeks as travel dies down and people settle back into their lives. The calendar, not the headlines, may be the biggest concern. The flu typically reaches its peak after the new year, and this season is already running hotter than usual, raising the possibility that the worst might still be ahead.