MID-HUDSON – The United States appears to be headed for a rough flu season, with a virus that causes more severe symptoms than the one last year and seems to be spreading more rapidly and earlier than usual.
The Centers for Disease Control reported Thursday flu infections were rising in 39 states with dominant flu virus this year, H3N2, known to cause more severe symptoms than the H1N1 virus that was most common last year.
Locally, Putnam County Health Department Epidemiologist, Alison Kaufman, said “as expected at this time of year, we are seeing seasonal increases in respiratory virus activity: Influenza, COVID-19, and RSV activity are all increasing. Of the three viruses, incidence and rate of increase are currently highest for flu. There is a 71 percent increase for flu through the end of November with county incidence at 59.4 cases per 100,000 population.”
She said the vast majority of flu cases diagnosed—93 percent—are flu type A. “We are seeing the seasonal flu increase a few weeks earlier than we did last year; COVID case counts are basically the same while RSV seasonal increases are a couple of weeks behind what we saw in 2024. The county has not yet seen increases in hospitalizations due to respiratory viruses at Putnam Hospital Center.”
Flu seasons in the United States tend to mimic the patterns in the Southern Hemisphere winter earlier in the year. This year, Australia experienced the worst flu season in its history.
In the Northern Hemisphere, Britain’s flu season began a month earlier than usual, with cases triple the same time last year. The country’s National Health Service issued a “flu jab SOS,” urging people to get vaccinated immediately. In Japan, the Tokyo municipal government issued its first flu warning since 2009 resulting in more than 1,100 schools in the city ordered closed, compared with 99 at the same time last year.
Although flu rates in the United States remain generally low, public health experts said that may quickly change, especially as multi-generational families gather for the holidays.
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