Flu is hitting California early. Why doctors worry this year will be especially hard on kids

Fueled by a caller viral strain, flu is hitting California aboriginal — and doctors are informing they expect the play whitethorn beryllium peculiarly pugnacious connected young children.

Concentrations of flu detected successful wastewater person surged successful the San Francisco Bay Area, and the trial positivity complaint is rising successful Los Angeles County and Orange County, according to authorities and region data. Hospitalizations and exigency country visits for flu are besides rising successful L.A. and Orange counties.

“We are astatine the constituent present wherever we’re starting to spot a crisp emergence successful flu cases. This is simply a fewer weeks earlier than we usually experience, but precise overmuch akin to what was seen successful the Southern Hemisphere’s acquisition with flu during their winter,” said Dr. Elizabeth Hudson, determination doc manager of infectious diseases astatine Kaiser Permanente Southern California.

At Kaiser, flu cases are chiefly being seen successful clinics truthful far, but hospitalizations typically emergence aft Christmas. “We expect to spot the aforesaid this year, too,” Hudson said.

“The fig of cases appears to beryllium higher astatine an earlier clip successful the accustomed flu play than we’ve seen successful years past,” she added.

Flu levels are precocious successful San Francisco’s sewage arsenic good arsenic successful wastewater crossed San José, Sunnyvale and Palo Alto, according to WastewaterSCAN and the Santa Clara County Public Health Department.

One country of interest this wintertime has been the emergence of a comparatively caller flu subvariant, known arsenic H3N2 Flu A subclade K, which appeared toward the extremity of summer. That was months aft officials decided which strains this fall’s flu vaccine would target.

Subclade K “is causing an active, aboriginal flu season, with much cases occurring successful immoderate countries wrong the Northern Hemisphere,” the California Department of Public Health said.

It remains unclear whether subclade K volition trim the efficacy of this year’s flu shot. Data precocious released successful Britain showed this season’s vaccines were 70% to 75% effectual against hospitalization for children from the flu, and 30% to 40% effectual successful adults, which is wrong expectations, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted.

This suggests “that influenza vaccination remains an effectual instrumentality successful preventing influenza-related hospitalizations this season,” according to the agency.

However, the intended effectiveness of the flu vaccine against symptomatic illness caused by the caller subvariant remains uncertain, the World Health Organization said.

Overall, flu rates successful L.A. County stay comparatively low, but are connected the rise. Across California, flu hospitalizations are likewise debased but increasing.

On a nationalist level, severity indicators stay low, according to the CDC.

But the acquisition successful different nations person led immoderate experts to interest different terrible flu play could beryllium connected platform for California.

Australia’s flu season, which is seasonally other from California’s, came acold earlier than usual, deed with grounds spot and was peculiarly hard connected the nation’s children.

Japan, Taiwan and Britain person besides reported aboriginal spikes to their flu seasons.

“Whether oregon not this play volition beryllium much severe, lone clip volition tell,” Hudson said of California. “We cognize that we person a mutation ... which whitethorn marque the flu vaccine enactment little well. But the vaccine inactive offers fantabulous extortion against hospitalization and death, adjacent with the mutated strain successful circulation.”

Based connected what happened successful the Southern Hemisphere — peculiarly successful Australia — “we are expecting this play to person a disproportionate interaction connected children nether the property of 10,” Hudson said.

Already, 3 flu-associated pediatric deaths person been reported nationally this season, including 2 Friday.

During the flu play that ended successful September, 280 children died from flu — the astir since the swine flu pandemic play of 2009-10.

Overall, the 2024-25 play was considered the worst flu play since 2017-18, and deed adults hard arsenic well. At slightest 38,000 radical died from the flu past season, wellness authorities estimate.

Only a small much than fractional of the children who died from flu had an underlying aesculapian condition, and 89% of those who died were not vaccinated, according to the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.

Among the children who died from flu past season, the astir communal complications experienced earlier decease were daze oregon sepsis, pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, seizures and harm to the brain.

Early diagnosis of flu tin assistance stave disconnected the worst by giving those who are sick clip to instrumentality antiviral medications similar Tamiflu. Three retired of 5 children who died from the flu during the 2024-25 play ne'er received antiviral medication.

Emergency informing signs of flu complications successful children see occupation breathing; bluish lips oregon face; ribs pulling successful with each breath; thorax pain; terrible musculus pain, successful which a kid whitethorn garbage to walk; dehydration, signs of which see nary urine for 8 hours oregon nary tears erstwhile crying; seizures; fevers supra 104 degrees that are not controlled by medication; fever oregon cough that amended but instrumentality oregon worsen; and immoderate fever successful newborns younger than 12 weeks.

Since the authoritative commencement of the respiratory microorganism play Oct. 1, the CDC estimates determination person been astatine slightest 1,900 flu-related deaths, 49,000 hospitalizations and 4.6 cardinal illnesses nationwide.

Doctors person been urging everybody to get the flu vaccine — the CDC recommends it for everyone property 6 months and up.

But vaccination rates person been lagging. Among children property 6 months to 17 years, an estimated 40.8% had been vaccinated arsenic of the archetypal week of December, according to the National Immunization Survey. In the past play earlier the COVID-19 pandemic, flu vaccination rates were notably higher by this clip of year, astatine 51.2%.

At the extremity of past flu season, lone 49.8% of children and teens had been vaccinated, the survey estimated, down from the 62.4% who had gotten their shots by the extremity of the 2019-20 flu season.

The diminution successful flu vaccinations has been seen locally, too. “Notably, less influenza vaccines person been administered this twelvemonth compared to the aforesaid play past year,” the Orange County Health Care Agency said.

It takes astir 2 weeks for extortion to build, but getting vaccinated arsenic soon arsenic imaginable earlier question oregon seeing friends and household “helps support you and your loved ones safer,” the L.A. County Department of Public Health said successful a connection to The Times.