![\"influenza](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/772be10ef8a41cfbb1a59e8cb219d07b.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Doctors Warn of Increasing Flu Cases KATERYNA KON\/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY – Getty Images<\/p>\n
Flu cases are rising again, after dropping for weeks.<\/p>\n
A \u201csecond peak\u201d is likely coming, according to doctors.<\/p>\n
Doctors share what to do to prevent getting seriously ill from the flu.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s no secret that this year\u2019s flu season<\/a> has been rough. To date in the U.S., there have been 20 million illnesses, 270,000 hospitalizations, and 11,000 deaths from the flu so far this season, according to estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a> (CDC). And 52 children have died from the flu.<\/p>\n The country started to see a dip in cases of the virus, making people believe that the worst was over. Now, those cases are creeping back up.<\/p>\n CDC data<\/a> show an uptick in people visiting the doctor for the flu, while positive lab tests for the virus are also jumping back up. \u201cSeasonal influenza activity remains elevated nationally and increased during Week three [of 2026] after three weeks of decreasing trends,\u201d the weekly FluView report reads. <\/p>\n Meet the experts: Amesh A. Adalja, M.D.<\/a>, an infectious disease expert and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security; Thomas Russo, M.D.,<\/a> a professor and chief of infectious diseases at the University at Buffalo in New York; William Schaffner, M.D.,<\/a> an infectious disease specialist and professor at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine<\/p>\n That\u2019s sparked rumblings of a \u201csecond peak\u201d happening. Meaning, there may be a lot more flu ahead. While there\u2019s no way of knowing for sure what will happen, infectious disease doctors say a second peak is an accurate guess. Here\u2019s why.<\/p>\n What\u2019s behind the second peak?<\/p>\n There are likely a few things going on here, according to infectious disease physicians. \u201cThere are more than one strain of influenza that circulate and one strain may begin to rise after another has abated,\u201d says Amesh A. Adalja, M.D.<\/a>, an infectious disease expert and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. While influenza A H3N2 (a.k.a. subclade K<\/a>) was the dominant strain at the start of the season and continues to drive cases, influenza B cases are also rising nationally.<\/p>\n \u201cInfluenza B has been smoldering along, but frequently becomes more prominent toward the end of the flu season,\u201d says William Schaffner, M.D.,<\/a> an infectious disease specialist and professor at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. \u201cIt looks as though we may be in a period of transition from influenza A to B<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Even then, Dr. Adalja notes that not everyone has been infected with influenza A\u2014which is still the dominant strain\u2014making them vulnerable to getting it. \u201cAlso, influenza B strains are rising,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n