Scientific American U.S. flu rates remain low, but experts are keeping an eye on a new strain that’s been linked to unexpectedly early and severe seasons in several other countries. Influenza is picking up in the U.S., and public health experts are bracing for signs of another brutal season with the virus.
Last year one of the worst waves of flu in recent decades took the U.S. by surprise. Japan and the U.K. are currently grappling with an unexpectedly early uptick in severe flu cases. A mutated strain known to cause severe disease may be behind some of the unusual activity. These warning signals, combined with interruptions in U.S. surveillance data and declining vaccination rates, have scientists worried. “Influenza is no joke,” says Shaun Truelove, an infectious-disease epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University. “Right now it’s time for everybody to get vaccinated.”
Flu Trends to Date
The government shutdown interrupted national flu data reporting last month, leaving scientists in the dark. A spokesperson for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told Scientific American that data were collected during the shutdown, but publication of weekly flu reports and respiratory dashboard updates were paused between September 20 and November 8.