Flu infections in US top 15M as child cases, hospital visits surge

Flu infections have continued to climb across the US, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimating at least 15 million illnesses, 180,000 hospitalizations, and 7,400 deaths so far this season.

CDC data released Friday shows a 10-year high in the rate of young children visiting doctors for flu-related symptoms.

More than 18% of doctor visits for children under age 4 are now flu-related, the highest rate since at least 2016.

"I have been watching the data over the past couple of weeks coming out, and concerned about the little kids and how sick we are seeing them come in," ABC News quoted Anne Zink, an emergency medicine physician who works with Yale's PopHIVE tracking platform, as saying.

Zink described crowded emergency rooms, saying: "We didn't even have enough places to sit people in our lobby."

About 7.2% of all health care visits are now for flu-like illness, defined as a fever with cough or sore throat, marking a record for this time of year, according to the CDC.

Eight more pediatric flu deaths were reported this week, bringing the total to 17 this season.

Last year, 289 children died from flu, with about 90% of them unvaccinated, CDC data shows.

CDC epidemiologist Carrie Reed told ABC News: "There's a lot of influenza out there right now. It's going to continue to be elevated for a little bit longer."

The majority of infections are linked to a new H3N2 subvariant called subclade K, which has circulated globally since summer and contributed to earlier spikes in countries like Canada and Japan.

As of Dec. 27, only 43.5% of U.S. adults and 42.5% of children had received a flu vaccine, despite ongoing public health recommendations.

Doctors continue to urge vaccinations, noting that the current vaccine offers protection against severe illness, even if it is not fully matched to the dominant strain.

"We're not out of the woods yet," warned Dr. Michelle Morse, acting health commissioner for New York City, which has seen some early signs of flu stabilization but still reports very high levels of circulation.

The soaring number of cases comes amid controversial Trump administration recommendations downplaying the need for many vaccinations. Public health advocates say the recommendations were drawn up by anti-vaccine advocates and are not in line with the science.

In an interview this week, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy, Jr.-a longtime vaccine skeptic-told CBS News that it might be a "better thing" if fewer children receive the flu vaccine.