Flu Season Hits Hard: What's Going On and How to Stay Safe

The flu is making a big comeback this holiday season. Numbers from the CDC show a huge jump in cases. Over 7. 5 million people got sick by late December. That's a lot! More than 81, 000 people ended up in the hospital. Sadly, 3, 100 people died, including eight kids. The flu is spreading fast. Almost double the number of places now have "high" or "very high" flu activity. New York and Massachusetts are hit the worst. New York saw 71, 000 cases in one week. That's the highest number since they started tracking in 2004. Boston saw a huge increase too, with kids getting sick the most. Some schools had to switch to online classes because so many students were sick. One school in Minnesota made this change right before winter break.Experts are worried about a specific type of flu virus called H3N2. It's causing most of the illnesses this year. H3N2 is known for making people sicker, especially older adults. The virus changed a bit, so people's immune systems don't recognize it as easily. The flu vaccine this year might not be a perfect match for the virus. But experts say it's still important to get vaccinated. It can help keep people out of the hospital, especially kids. However, not many people got the vaccine this year. Only about 130 million doses were given in the U. S. Getting the flu shot, staying away from sick people, washing hands, and cleaning surfaces can help prevent illness. These are the best ways to stay safe.