Last week 19,000 people were admitted to U.S. hospitals with influenza. So far this season there have been 7.5 million flu cases in the U.S., and 3,100 people have died from the flu, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). New York has been hit especially hard with over 71,000 cases reported last week—the most cases ever recorded in a single week in the state. Other areas with high levels of flu activity include the Northeast, Midwest, and the South. Typically flu seasons peak in early February.
Meanwhile, only 42% of American adults have been vaccinated for flu, according to the CDC. School districts traditionally served as a bulwark against all disease outbreaks by encouraging students to be vaccinated against multiple threats, but vaccination rates have plummeted since the Covid pandemic. For example, with measles, only 25% of counties have a vaccination rate for kindergarten students that would provide protection known as herd immunity. Due to failures of basic public health measures in 2025, some 43 states reported measles cases, despite the U.S. having achieved the official elimination of measles in 2000. Other preventable diseases, such as whooping cough and chickenpox, have also been surging in recent months. Without a return to traditional public health measures, these and other outbreaks are expected to be more frequent and more intense.
