Early Flu Season Hits Western U.S. States as Experts Urge Immediate Vaccination
The flu season has commenced earlier than usual in various regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with notable increases in cases during August and September across western states such as California, Washington, Alaska, and Hawaii, diverging from the usual Southeast-to-West Coast trend. Similar early spikes have been observed in Japan and the UK. On October 6, James Watt from the California Department of Public Health remarked that the nation is "looking at an early flu season." Concerns have been raised regarding low vaccination rates. The CDC indicates that H1N1 is prevalent this year. Since 2010, U.S. hospitalizations have varied from 120,000 to 710,000, with fatalities ranging from 6,300 to 52,000. Vaccines for 2026-27 are now available, and Greninger stresses the need for timely vaccination.
Key facts
- Flu rates began rising in August or September in California, Washington, Alaska and Hawaii, reversing the usual Southeast-to-West Coast pattern
- Early increases were also reported in Japan and the United Kingdom
- James Watt of the California Department of Public Health called it an early flu season at an October 6 briefing
- H1N1 is the dominant influenza strain this year, unlike last season's H3N2
- The CDC estimates 120,000 to 710,000 U.S. hospitalizations and 6,300 to 52,000 deaths annually since 2010
- Alex Greninger of the University of Washington suggested a new H1N1 variant may evade immune systems better
- Helen Chu attributed reduced immunity to last year's H3N2 dominance
- Argentina recorded its highest flu-like illness cases in a decade during the Southern Hemisphere season
Entities
Artists
- James Watt
- Danielle Zerr
- Alex Greninger
- Helen Chu
- Katelyn Jetelina
- James Hay
- Catherine Ho
- Lena H. Sun
- Rob Stein
- Mariana Lenharo
- Sara Hashemi
Institutions
- California Department of Public Health
- Seattle Children's
- Washington Post
- San Francisco Chronicle
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- University of Washington
- NPR
- University of Oxford
- Nature
- Your Local Epidemiologist
- Smithsonian Magazine
Locations
- California
- United States
- Washington
- Alaska
- Hawaii
- Japan
- United Kingdom
- England
- Argentina
- New York City
- Seattle