Flu Cases Spike in US as HHS Continues to Push Anti-Vaccine Policies |
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The number of influenza cases in the United States is higher this year than last year, sparking concern that this flu season may be worse than usual due to lower rates of vaccination against the virus.
Seventeen jurisdictions across the U.S. report “high” or “very high” levels of influenza. The situation is hitting some areas harder than others, with areas in Georgia and Kansas seeing so many cases of childhood influenza that some schools have had to close.
Due to the holiday break, a federal report on flu counts in the country was not published last week. The most recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), published on December 19, shows that there have been 4.6 million cases of influenza counted this season thus far, with 49,000 hospitalizations and 1,900 deaths — including two infant deaths counted in the last report alone.
The same report from one year ago saw a similar number of pediatric deaths but much lower numbers in the other metrics — just 1.9 million cases of the flu had been counted up to this point in the previous flu season, with only 23,000 hospitalizations and 970 deaths.
It’s possible that the reason this year’s flu season is off to such a bad start is that vaccination rates for the flu are lower — 13 million fewer vaccine doses have been administered this year than in 2024. Although the ideal time to get vaccinated is before the flu season hits in........