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The flu has started spreading earlier<\/a> than usual in some parts of the country, prompting concerns that cases could soon erupt as millions of Americans travel and gather for Thanksgiving and other upcoming holidays.<\/p>\n The warning signs come as a form of the virus, called H3N2 subclade K, has set off massive outbreaks in Canada and the U.K.<\/p>\n Dr. Cameron Wolfe, an infectious disease specialist at Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, North Carolina, said he\u2019s noted a sharp increase in flu cases over the past few weeks. <\/p>\n \u201cTypically, I might see one or two cases a week at this point,\u201d Wolfe said. \u201cAt the moment, we\u2019ve had two, three, four per day coming in.\u201d <\/p>\n Alicia Budd, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention\u2019s domestic influenza surveillance team, said: \u201cWe certainly do expect we\u2019re going to see influenza activity increasing over the next several weeks.\u201d <\/p>\n The majority of flu circulating so far this season in the U.S. is the H3N2 strain, according to the CDC. H3N2 flus tend to cause more hospitalizations and deaths in older adults.<\/p>\n An early uptick in cases, Wolfe said, can create unique risks for this age group. <\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re seeing a really early flu season, you run the risk that some nursing homes may not have finished their vaccine deployments. Maybe a hospital hasn\u2019t fully vaccinated its staff,\u201d Wolfe said. \u201cThe community in general may not be as protected as it might have been if a virus turns up in January, for example.\u201d<\/p>\n While flu activity is considered low overall, the CDC\u2019s latest flu report<\/a> shows cases are on the rise. The agency estimates that at least 650,000 people have had the flu so far this season. Around 7,400 people have been hospitalized and 300 have died, according to the report.<\/p>\n The uptick in cases and emergency room visits are occurring mostly in children, Budd said. <\/p>\n Last year, 280 children in the U.S. died from the flu<\/a>. It was the deadliest flu season ever recorded for children<\/a>, aside from the 2009-10 H1N1 pandemic. <\/p>\n No pediatric deaths have been reported so far this season. Still, the early rise in flu activity is unsettling for doctors who spent last winter watching the virus sweep through schools, day cares and, consequently, hospitals.<\/p>\n \u201cIt feels like the calm before the storm,\u201d said Dr. Buddy Creech, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. \u201cWe may have a difficult influenza year.\u201d<\/p>\n The H3N2 strain is known for its ability to mutate easily. The subclade K form of the strain popped up over the summer with a handful of mutations. It emerged after the makeup of this season’s flu shots had been set. <\/p>\n Budd, of the CDC, said the agency is studying how well the flu vaccine matches this latest flu strain. Still, she encouraged people to get the shot. <\/p>\n Budd said the agency is studying how well the flu vaccine matches this latest flu strain. Still, she encouraged people to get the shot. <\/p>\n \u201cEven in years where the strain in the vaccine may not be as similar to the strains that we\u2019re seeing circulating, we know that the vaccine can help prevent severity of illness,\u201d Budd said. <\/p>\n Doctors across the U.S. are closely monitoring increases in flu cases.<\/p>\n \u201cDoes it turn on our antenna a little bit more? Yes,\u201d said Dr. Daniel Varga, chief physician executive at Hackensack Meridian Health in New Jersey. \u201cIt makes us be even more vigilant at looking at the traditional monitoring we do locally.\u201d<\/p>\n Dr. Melanie Kitagawa, medical director of the pediatric intensive care unit at Texas Children\u2019s Hospital in Houston, said it\u2019s still not too late to get a flu shot. <\/p>\n \u201cThe more people we can get vaccinated prior to the start of the flu season, the better it\u2019s going to be,\u201d Kitagawa said. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n The flu has started spreading earlier than usual in some parts of the country, prompting concerns that cases could soon erupt as millions of Americans travel and gather for Thanksgiving and other upcoming holidays. The warning signs come as a form of the virus, called H3N2 subclade K, has set off massive outbreaks in Canada … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Flu-season-is-just-beginning-but-doctors-are-already-on.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11369"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11369\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11371,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11369\/revisions\/11371"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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