Flu is surging nationwide, and doctors say we’re nowhere near the peak

NBC News -  A new variant of Influenza A, nicknamed "super flu," is taking off faster than usual this season. "Just looking at the trajectory of the curve, it’s really a pretty sharp increase that we’re seeing, and it’s not anywhere close to peaking or leveling off," said Dr. Daniel Kuritzkes, a senior infectious disease physician at Mass General Brigham in Boston.

The dominant, mutated H3N2 strain emerged over the summer and includes changes to a key surface protein that make it harder for the immune system to recognize the virus.

Older adults and people with chronic conditions are more likely to need hospitalizations if they contract the flu, adding more stress to facilities that already have limited beds because of Covid and RSV cases, according to Dr. Lauren Siewny, the medical director of Duke University Hospital Emergency Department. But doctors warn that young children, particularly infants and young children through age 4, have been hit the hardest.

Symptoms mirror previous flu seasons but can start acutely, such as people experiencing higher fever, shaking, chills, cough and shortness of breath, said Dr. Molly Fleece, associate professor in the division of infectious diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.