The annual flu season is set to begin soon, and it looks like this year’s might be a big one.
American researchers typically look to Australia for clues about how severe the upcoming flu season might be, as influenza typically spreads there during the Northern Hemisphere’s spring and summer months.
This year, Australia has had an active flu season, with case numbers running at their highest levels since before the COVID-19 pandemic years.
And once again, surges of COVID and respiratory syncytial virus are anticipated while influenza is spreading across the United States this fall and winter, putting even more strain on health systems.
Flu vaccines are now widely available across the county, but they are not the only line of defense.
“Vaccination isn’t the only thing you can do to protect yourself and others around you from infection,” said Dr. Anthony Chong, a family medicine physician and chief medical officer at Scripps Coastal Medical Center.
“It’s always a good idea to wash hands often, avoid people who are sick, stay home and avoid others if you have symptoms, and make sure you are current on other recommended vaccinations for COVID-19 and RSV.”
Masking is also an effective prevention against multiple viral infections, including influenza.
Beyond the physical discomfort and schedule disruptions that a routine flu infection can bring, the virus also can be deadly. During the 2023-24 flu season, the virus infected more than 19,000 people in San Diego County and killed 60 people locally.
Across the United States, as many as 64 million people were sickened by influenza, and as many as 72,000 died.
This year’s flu vaccine will be a bit different, however — for the first time since 2013, the shot no longer contains protection against the B/Yamagata family of viruses, which has not been seen anywhere in the world since it disappeared in 2020 during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, when global infection mitigation efforts largely sidelined influenza from circulation.