The ‘super flu‘ is exploding across the US, with some states seeing more cases than ever before.
The latest CDC data for the week ending December 20 shows positive flu tests are up 53 percent compared to the week prior. Positive tests are up nearly 75 percent from this time last year.
During the week ending December 20, the number of people hospitalized surged 51 percent, and the number already in hospital has nearly doubled compared to the same period last year.
The newest figures, which are updated through December 20, show ‘very high’ flu transmission in 21 states, with New York City, New York state, New Jersey, South Carolina, Louisiana and Colorado reporting the highest rates.
In New York, more than 71,000 flu cases were reported last week, the most the state has ever had in a single week.
Additionally, in the last week, two children in Kentucky and Alabama have died of the flu. According to the CDC data, there have been eight pediatric flu-related deaths this virus season.
Due to the surge, hospitals are enacting Covid-era restrictions on visitors and bringing back mask mandates to slow the spread of the dangerous new flu strain H3N2 subclade K, which experts believe is behind the flu’s meteoric rise.
Duke Health in North Carolina announced this week it will limit hospital visitors starting January 6, 2026, to just two people ages 12 and over per patient. And Iredell Memorial Hospital in North Carolina said beginning this week, it will not allow anyone under 14 to visit.