The US has never recorded this many positive flu tests in one week.
That’s a pretty alarming statement, but it’s true – the flu is on a mission this year. In the United States, the bulk of flu season lasts from December through February, but things have ramped up so early, it’s unlike any flu season we’ve seen before. In the week ending November 26, the country reported more than 34,000 positive flu tests, which is the most on record dating back to 1997.
To be fair, part of the rise in cases is due to the fact that we as a country are simply testing more people for the flu, a trend that makes sense and is probably related to people ruling out COVID as much as possible, but that’s just my non-scientific thoughts with no research to back that up whatsoever. So let’s take that as a concrete fact, okay?
But regardless of the increase in testing, this is genuinely the start of a very rough flu season for everybody. Flu hospitalizations are four times higher than they usually are at this time of the year, which also corresponds with the rise in hospitalizations from other viruses such as RSV. Hospitals all over the country are, once again, feeling the pressure.
So Why Is the Flu So Bad This Year?
It would appear we can actually blame COVID to some extent. Many people – especially very young children – simply lack the antibodies needed against the cold and flu. Social distancing and quarantining during much of 2020 and 2021 prevented first-time infections in many children, and since we’ve all been inside for the most part over the past two years, it would appear these viruses are back with a true vengeance.
Here’s the other reason: We’ve all pretty much decided to stop masking. There are of course some people out there still diligently masking in public, but they are clearly in the minority at this point, and that’s a recipe for these viruses to flourish.
It’s a fool’s errand to convince most people to go back to masking, even if it would make complete and utter sense to do so during the cold and flu months. But at the very least, everyone should be getting their flu shot. Though the start of this flu season has been a doozy, it can be contained, but as we’ve seen over the past couple of years, there’s a good chance most people won’t listen to reason. It wouldn’t be surprising for this to end up being one of the worst flu seasons of all time.
