Flu is showing up earlier this year
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Early signs suggest flu season is starting sooner than in recent years.
Why it matters: If you're thinking about getting your flu shot, health experts suggest it's time to roll up your sleeve.
By the numbers: About 3.6% of flu tests came back positive in early October, compared with just 0.6% at the same point last year, according to CDC data.
- The fine print: CDC's published methodology shows no change in flu test positivity calculations.
Zoom out: Additional data, including outpatient reports, suggest flu activity is on the rise.
- The highest percentages of medical visits for flu-like illness are in children.
- Meanwhile: RSV activity remains very low in most of the country, while COVID activity is still elevated in some regions but declining nationally, per the CDC.
What they're saying: "'Get your flu shot now' is my best advice," Trish Perl, a professor of infectious diseases and epidemiology at UT Southwestern, tells Axios.
- It generally takes up to two weeks after vaccination for the immune system to develop maximum immune response.
The intrigue: This season, the new U.S.-approved mRNA flu vaccine is available to adults 50 and older.
- The move comes as the Trump administration has reshaped federal vaccine policy and put greater emphasis on vaccine safety and injury reporting.
- Yes, but: Serious reactions caused by vaccines are rare, and a health problem reported after vaccination does not necessarily mean the vaccine caused it, CDC has said.
The bottom line: The early rise in flu positivity is worth watching, but it does not yet tell us how severe the "reliably unreliable" flu season — as Perl describes it — will be.
