Flu activity continues to climb in US with at least 15 million cases: CDC
Flu activity remains elevated throughout the United States, with children being hit especially hard, according to newly released data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC on Friday estimated there have been at least 15 million illnesses, 180,000 hospitalizations and 7,400 deaths from flu so far this season.
The federal health agency reported that there is currently a 10-year high in the rate of children visiting doctors' offices for flu.
More than 18% of visits to the doctor for children under 4 years old were related to flu, which is the highest level since at least 2016, the CDC noted.
"I have been watching the data over the past couple of weeks coming out, and concerned about the little kids and how sick we are seeing them come in," Dr. Anne Zink, who is a practicing emergency medicine physician and runs Yale's PopHIVE platform that tracks how respiratory illnesses spread, told ABC News on Friday.
Zink recalled her experience working in an emergency room in Alaska a few weeks ago.
"We didn't even have enough places to sit people in our lobby. My colleagues in other states are sharing very similar stories of just overwhelming flu numbers," Zink said.
About 7.2% of visits to a health care provider were labeled as flu-like illness and continues to be a record for this time of year, CDC data shows. Flu-like illness accounts for patients that have a fever as well as a cough and/or sore throat.
Eight pediatric flu death were reported this week, bringing the total to 17 for this season, according to an ABC News tally.
Last season had a record breaking 289 children die from flu -- the highest number since CDC began tracking in 2004. About 90% of children that died from flu last year were not vaccinated, a CDC study found.
CDC data shows that 26 states are currently seeing "very high" levels of flu-like illnesses while 16 states are seeing "high" levels.
Additionally, demand for over the counter cold and flu medications as well as at-home flu and COVID tests increased 155% over the last three weeks, according to data shared with ABC News by the pharmacy chain Walgreens.
Recently, a top epidemiologist at CDC told ABC News that flu activity could continue to increase in the U.S. over the next few weeks.
"There's a lot of influenza out there right now," Dr. Carrie Reed, chief of the CDC influenza division's epidemiology and prevention branch, told ABC News earlier this week.
"We often see activity continue into the spring ... I think the reality is that it's going to continue to be elevated for a little bit longer," she continued.
Data shows that the majority of this season's cases are linked to a new flu strain called subclade K -- a variant of the H3N2 virus, which is itself a subtype of influenza A.
Subclade K has been circulating since the summer in other countries and was a main driver of a spike in flu cases in Canada, Japan and the U.K.
Doctors encourage all Americans aged 6 months and older to get an annual flu vaccine. They emphasize that the shot protects against severe disease, hospitalization and death.
"I still think that if you have not been sick this year, it is not too late to get the flu vaccine," Zink said.
As of Dec. 27, 43.5% of U.S. adults aged 18 and older and 42.5% of children had received a flu vaccine, according to CDC data.
Recently, the CDC changed the childhood immunization schedule. The agency no longer universally recommends the flu vaccine for children and adolescents, encouraging parents to speak to their health care provider about vaccine.
Research has shown that the annual flu shot is not perfectly matched with the new variant but still provides protection against serious disease.
Activity in some parts of the country appears to have stabilized compared to the prior week, the CDC noted, but the agency warned that this may be due to fewer people visiting a health care provider during the holidays.
One such place is New York City, where flu activity has begun to show signs of a decline despite the virus continuing to circulate at very high levels, according to state health officials.
New York City was one of the first areas of the country to see "very high" levels of flu activity -- as classified by the CDC -- and has been dealing with an early and significant uptick in flu cases.
Last month, the city saw the highest number of cases recorded in a single year since 2004, the year during which cases became required to be reported.
"We're not out of the woods yet. Flu seasons are unpredictable, and the virus continues to circulate at very high levels," Dr. Michelle Morse, the city's acting health commissioner, said during a press conference on Thursday.
