Everyone's sick this winter. What’s up with flu, norovirus, RSV and COVID?
If it seems like you and everyone around you are getting sick this winter, you're not wrong.
Experts say this is the worst flu season in the U.S. in more than a decade and cases are still trending up. Flu infections have reached the highest level since the winter of 2010 and 2011 when the swine flu swept across the nation, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows.
The surge in flu cases also comes amid concerns about high infection rates for other viruses including RSV, COVID-19 and the gastrointestinal bug norovirus. Still, health officials say flu cases are among their top concerns right now.
For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began five years ago, flu-related deaths topped COVID-19-related deaths this winter.
Those numbers reflect just how intense this year’s influenza season has been, said Jen Brull, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians.
“It's not that COVID-19 is getting better, it's that influenza is getting worse,” Brull said. "It sounds like, 'Oh, good, COVID deaths are going down,' but really it's just influenza illness and deaths are going up."
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Flu season by the numbers
The CDC estimates that there have been at least 29 million flu infections so far this season, through Feb. 8, including 370,000 hospitalizations and 16,000 deaths.
While in some years, the flu disproportionately affects people of certain age groups, the agency described this year as a high-severity season for people of all ages. For instance, the number of people who have so far visited the doctor for flu-like symptoms in February has spiked higher than during the same timeframe in 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last year, the CDC estimated that the flu caused a total of 470,000 hospitalizations and 28,000 deaths.
Brull, who also works as a family physician in Colorado, said flu cases typically swell in February just when it seems like the winter virus season is ending.
This year’s surge in infections and hospitalizations appears larger than in the past, suggesting that this strain of influenza virus is “more contagious” and “more severe” than in past years, she said. If cases remain high throughout February, as they are expected to, Brull told Paste BN flu deaths could triple from last year.
Why are flu cases surging?
The severity of this year’s flu season is driven by a combination of factors, experts suggested.
Daniel Griffin, an infectious disease specialist at Columbia University, said the uptick could be a result of people socializing more this year than they did in the immediate years after the pandemic.
Vaccination rates might also be playing a role, Brull said.
Flu vaccination rates among the general population are at their lowest level in three years, according to CDC data. Among children, they’re at a six-year low.
“Any family physician would tell you it is not too late to get your flu shot or your COVID booster this year,” Brull said. “Flu and COVID exist all year-round.”
A confluence of illnesses
This year’s cold and flu season has also seen spikes in other illnesses, including COVID-19, RSV and the gastrointestinal-related norovirus.
There were more norovirus cases between November and January of this year than at any point going back to at least 2012, according to CDC data. Infections related to that virus appear to be on the decline for this season.
The number of people heading to the emergency room for RSV and COVID-19 infections also is decreasing across much of the country, though wastewater data collected by the CDC suggests that COVID-19 infections are still high.
Griffin said the flu is “the most common” illness infectious disease consultants are being called for in hospitals right now.
This story was updated to add current flu CDC map.