The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that, so far this season, influenza has already claimed 1,300 lives in the U.S. and also estimates there have been at least 2.8 million illnesses and 23,000 hospitalizations.
Cases, hospitalizations, and deaths for the flu have now almost doubled since the week prior– for the second week in a row.
“Here we are again thinking about and planning for a surge that will be really hard for us to absorb over the next couple of months,” Dr. Brendan Carr, a professor and system chair of the department of emergency medicine at Mount Sinai Health System, told ABC News.
Overall, respiratory illnesses including flu are hitting young children especially hard potentially due to the recent relaxation of pandemic-era prevention efforts. So far, there have been five influenza-associated deaths in children this season- with three deaths reported this past week.