This winter, the U. S. is battling a fierce flu outbreak

Doctors' offices across the country are bustling with patients complaining of flu-like symptoms. It turns out this flu season is the worst in 15 years. The U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed that last week, the number of people visiting doctors due to flu-like symptoms hit a record high. The problem is, people might confuse other illnesses as the flu.

Let's talk numbers. Since the season began, the flu has led to 24 million illnesses, 310, 000 hospital stays, and 13, 000 deaths, including the sad loss of 57 children. So far, 43 states are reporting high or very high flu activity, leaving many hospitals and schools around the country to struggle with the fallout.

Schools closed, kids are suffering and parents are worried. Take the Godley Independent School District, near Fort Worth, Texas, for example. They had to shut down for three days because 650 kids and 60 staff members were out sick.  One school administrator was quoted saying this was the worst flu season in recent memory.

Dr. Elizabeth Murray, a pediatric emergency medicine doctor in Rochester, New York, agrees that the flu is intense but notes that there are many different respiratory illnesses going around, some of which include COVID-19 and RSV.

Now let's talk vaccinations. About 44% of adults got their flu shots, but vaccination rates for kids are down to 45%. To make matters worse, only about 23% of American adults and 12% of children are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

The government hasn't told us yet if the flu shot is working like it should be this year. The flu strains causing most of the trouble are Type A H3N2 and Type A H1N1. There's a third strain, a bird flu known as H5N1, that has infected tens of millions of animals, but has only infected 67 people in the U. S. If this seems alarming, it should.  Tips to avoid the flu: keep your hands to yourself wash your hands, clean surfaces and avoid sick people.  This is the most effective way to keep yourself and your family safe.

The CDC didn't want to talk about all this with a reporter.

This would be a good time to ask your doctor about getting a flu shot. With the flu going around, it's more important than ever.

Flu Fever Sweeps Across America

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