Is America Being Swept By Devastating Flu Cases Suddenly In Recent Years?

As the 2025–26 flu season unfolds, public health data show the United States is experiencing exceptionally high influenza activity, prompting comparisons with the most severe seasons of the past decade. As per the CDC’s FluView surveillance report for the ending week of December 2025, flu activity has been elevated on a national scale, with over 81,000 hospitalizations, already recorded this season, figures that accentuate a serious outbreak well above typical early-season levels. Influenza A viruses, particularly the H3N2 subtype and its subclade K variant, constitute the majority of this circulation, making up roughly 91.8 % of subtyped viruses. Elevated flu activity is widespread, with most states reporting increased outpatient visits for flu-like illness above baseline and influenza present in approximately 25.6 % of tested specimens.

Many experts attribute the dire situation of this current outbreak and its intensity to partial mismatch between circulating strains and vaccines available currently, which in turn has lowered overall vaccination coverage, and in prevention of the high transmissibility of subclade K. 

According to CDC estimates reported by NPR, there have been at least 7.5 million illnesses and 3,100 deaths so far, and cases were expected to continue rising into January. That pattern is echoed in NBC News reporting on CDC data, which shows flu has surged nationwide: nearly 1 in 10 outpatient visits (8.2 %) were due to flu-like illness by the week ending Dec. 27, the highest rate of doctor visits for these symptoms in nearly 30 years, and at least 5,000 people have died this season, including nine children. 

This surge isn’t confined to one region. New York reported a record of 4,546 flu-related hospitalizations marking its highest weekly total ever with an estimate of over 72,133 new cases in a single week, the most since state tracking began in 2004. Moreover, this strain isn't just a coast-to-coast phenomenon; Colorado is among states seeing significant surges in cases and hospitalizations, setting a weekly hospitalization record with 791 flu patients reported. Low vaccination uptake is compounding concerns. Data shows flu vaccination among U.S. children and teens has dropped to 43%, down from 63.7% pre-pandemic, while coverage among adults who are 65 and older has slipped to just under 66%, leaving a majority exposed as hospital admissions surge. The upshot is quite stark: even as shots offer reduced protection against H3N2 subclade K, most Americans are confronting the dominant strain with no vaccine help at all.