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January 6, 2026<\/p>\n
2 min read<\/p>\n
Add Us On Google<\/span>Add SciAm<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n This Year\u2019s Flu Season Just Surpassed a Grim New Record<\/p>\n Almost one in 10 people who visited a doctor in the U.S. in the week ending on December 27 were there for flulike symptoms, according to new data<\/p>\n By Jackie Flynn Mogensen edited by Claire Cameron<\/span><\/p>\n Jeffrey Greenberg\/Universal Images Group via Getty Images<\/p>\n As the Trump administration rolled back influenza vaccination recommendations for children on Monday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new data showing that this season\u2019s flu has surpassed a grim record.<\/p>\n Doctor visits for flulike illnesses in the U.S. have reached their highest level in the nearly 30 years that the CDC has tracked the statistic, according to the country\u2019s top public health body.<\/p>\n More than 8 percent of all visits to a health care provider in the week ending on December 27 were for respiratory illness\u2014the highest rate since the CDC started keeping tabs on such visits in 1997. So far this season, influenza viruses have led to more than 120,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths, including nine children.<\/p>\n If you’re enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.<\/p>\n At the local level, some 45 states saw high or very high \u201cinfluenzalike\u201d activity. The new numbers don\u2019t cover the full post-holiday-travel period, so the rates of doctor visits and hospitalizations could yet rise. A new variant of the influenza A strain H3N2 that is known as subclade K may be driving up infections: the variant has been shown to carry mutations that may make this year\u2019s flu vaccine less effective. But the shots still provide some protection, especially against severe disease and death, experts say.<\/p>\n The data release follows Monday\u2019s announcement of new CDC vaccination recommendations for children. These guidelines now recommend that parents talk to their health care provider about their children receiving the flu vaccine\u2014a departure from the agency\u2019s long-standing recommendation that everyone receive an annual flu shot as routine. Experts say the move will affect vaccination rates and endanger children\u2019s health.<\/p>\n If you enjoyed this article, I\u2019d like to ask for your support. Scientific American<\/span> has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in that two-century history.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve been a Scientific American<\/span> subscriber since I was 12 years old, and it helped shape the way I look at the world. SciAm <\/span>always educates and delights me, and inspires a sense of awe for our vast, beautiful universe. I hope it does that for you, too.<\/p>\n If you subscribe to Scientific American<\/span>, you help ensure that our coverage is centered on meaningful research and discovery; that we have the resources to report on the decisions that threaten labs across the U.S.; and that we support both budding and working scientists at a time when the value of science itself too often goes unrecognized.<\/p>\n In return, you get essential news, captivating podcasts, brilliant infographics, can’t-miss newsletters, must-watch videos, challenging games, and the science world’s best writing and reporting. You can even gift someone a subscription.<\/p>\n There has never been a more important time for us to stand up and show why science matters. I hope you\u2019ll support us in that mission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" January 6, 2026 2 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm This Year\u2019s Flu Season Just Surpassed a Grim New Record Almost one in 10 people who visited a doctor in the U.S. in the week ending on December 27 were there for flulike symptoms, according to new data By Jackie Flynn Mogensen edited by<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40616,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[3952,4255,3190,70,5380,6441,637],"class_list":{"0":"post-40615","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-doctor","9":"tag-flu","10":"tag-highest","11":"tag-hit","12":"tag-level","13":"tag-visits","14":"tag-years"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40615"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40615\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/40616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}On supporting science journalism<\/h2>\n
It\u2019s Time to Stand Up for Science<\/h2>\n