Flu activity is rising sharply across the country, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), with some areas seeing record-high numbers of illnesses.<\/p>\n
The numbers come as experts brace for a particularly harsh season driven by a new, mutated variant of the virus that is circulating widely.<\/p>\n
According to estimates posted by CDC<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0Dec. 30,\u00a0there are 32\u00a0states and\u00a0jurisdictions \u2014 including\u00a0South Carolina; Louisiana; Washington, D.C.; and New York City \u2014\u00a0showing \u201chigh\u201d or \u201cvery high\u201d levels of flu.<\/p>\n The CDC estimates there have been at least 7.5 million illnesses, 81,000 hospitalizations and 3,100 deaths from flu so far this season.\u00a0At least eight children have died from flu this season.<\/p>\n While the CDC said\u00a0this influenza season is not severe,\u00a0\u201cflu\u00a0activity is expected to continue for several weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n Laboratory testing, outpatient health care visits,\u00a0hospitalizations\u00a0and mortality are all higher than they were in the previous Dec. 19 update, which CDC said signaled the start of the flu\u00a0season.<\/p>\n Experts generally anticipate flu cases will most likely to peak in January or February, surging after winter travel and holiday gatherings.<\/p>\n Influenza A(H3N2) viruses are the\u00a0most commonly reported.\u00a0Health officials and experts have expressed\u00a0concern that the current flu vaccine may not be a good match for the dominant variant circulating \u2014 subclade K \u2014\u00a0but they say the vaccine will still protect against serious illness.<\/p>\n Subclade K earned the nickname \u201csuper flu\u201d<\/a> because it drove high numbers of cases elsewhere in the world.\u00a0Subclade K\u00a0emerged\u00a0at the tail end of the Southern Hemisphere\u2019s flu season, after the World Health Organization\u00a0and\u00a0U.S. health agencies\u00a0chose\u00a0the\u00a0strain\u00a0the vaccine would match.<\/p>\n The vaccines take months to make, bottle and distribute, so health agencies typically meet toward the end of one flu season to prepare for the next.\u00a0Scientists\u00a0use data from the previous year to predict which strains of the virus are likely to be most prevalent over the coming year.<\/p>\n