By MIKE STOBBE,\u00a0AP Medical Writer<\/p>\n
NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 U.S. flu infections showed signs of a slight decline last week, but health officials say it\u2019s not clear that this severe flu season has peaked.<\/p>\n
New government data<\/a> posted Friday \u2014 for flu activity through last week \u2014 showed declines in medical office visits due to flu-like illness and in the number of states reporting high flu activity.<\/p>\n However, some measures show this season is already surpassing the flu epidemic of last winter, one of the harshest in recent history. And experts believe there\u2019s more suffering ahead.<\/p>\n One type of flu virus, called A H3N2, historically has caused the most hospitalizations and deaths in older people. So far this season, that\u2019s the type most frequently reported. Even more concerning, more than 91% of the H3N2 infections analyzed were a new version \u2014 known as the subclade K variant \u2014 that differs from the strain in this year\u2019s flu shots.<\/p>\n Last flu season saw the highest overall flu hospitalization rate since the H1N1 flu pandemic 15 years ago. And child flu deaths<\/a> reached 289, the worst recorded for any U.S. flu season this century \u2014 including that H1N1 \u201cswine flu\u201d pandemic of 2009-2010.<\/p>\n So far this season, there have been at least 15 million flu illnesses and 180,000 hospitalizations, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates. It also estimates there have been 7,400 deaths, including at least 17 children.<\/p>\n Last week, 44 states reported high flu activity, down slightly from the week before. However, flu deaths and hospitalizations rose.<\/p>\n Determining exactly how flu season is going can be particularly tricky around the holidays. Schools are closed and many people are traveling. Some people may be less likely to see a doctor, deciding to just suffer at home. Others may be more likely to go.<\/p>\n Also, some seasons see a surge in cases, then a decline, and then a second surge.<\/p>\n For years, federal health officials joined doctors\u2019 groups in recommending that everyone 6 months and older get an annual influenza vaccine. The shots may not prevent all symptoms but can prevent many infections from becoming severe, experts say.<\/p>\n But federal health officials on Monday announced they will no longer recommend flu vaccinations<\/a> for U.S. children, saying it\u2019s a decision parents and patients should make in consultation with their doctors.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t begin to express how concerned we are about the future health of the children in this country, who already have been unnecessarily dying from the flu \u2014 a vaccine preventable disease,\u201d said Michele Slafkosky, executive director of an advocacy organization called Families Fighting Flu.<\/p>\n \u201cNow, with added confusion for parents and healthcare providers about childhood vaccines, I fear that flu seasons to come could be even more deadly for our youngest and most vulnerable,\u201d she said in a statement.<\/p>\n Flu is just one of a group of viruses that tend to strike more often in the winter. Hospitalizations from COVID-19 and RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, also have been rising in recent weeks \u2014 though were not diagnosed nearly as often as flu infections, according to other federal data<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute\u2019s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. 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