Just FYI, This Year’s Flu Season Is Even Earlier Than Expected

Reported by Women's Health Magazine.

Flu season officially has no respect for your calendar. According to Women's Health Magazine, the U.S. is already clocking higher-than-normal flu rates — and it's barely fall. The CDC's latest data shows 3.6% of people tested for respiratory illness are coming back positive for influenza, with activity described as "increasing" across multiple regions. Thomas Russo, MD, professor and chief of infectious disease at the University at Buffalo, put it plainly: "Flu season is happening much earlier than usual."

The early surge isn't uniform — geography matters here. The West Coast is currently bearing the brunt, with California sitting at an 8.8% test positivity rate. Alaska started tracking a noticeable uptick as far back as mid-August. The strain driving most of this? An H1N1 variant with a D.3.1.1 HA subclade that Russo says may be more immune-evasive than typical strains — meaning it can slip past partial immunity more easily, which helps explain why cases are climbing before winter even sets in.

Early Doesn't Mean Worse — But Don't Get Comfortable

Asefeh Faraz Covelli, PhD, APRN, researcher and associate professor at The George Washington University School of Nursing, is urging people not to catastrophize — but also not to look away. "An earlier start doesn't necessarily mean the flu is stronger," she says, noting that flu viruses mutate constantly, and some changes simply make them easier to spread among people who have some existing immunity. Whether this season trends more severe is still an open question. Covelli adds that researchers are actively monitoring circulating strains, but it's too soon to draw conclusions.

What you should do right now: get your flu shot. Public health guidance typically points to Halloween as the target date, but given this season's head start, both experts say don't wait. "September and October are generally the best time," Covelli says, "and it takes about two weeks to build protection." Worth noting: an early start doesn't guarantee an early finish. Russo flags the possibility of a two-wave season — first influenza A, then influenza B — which means protection through the full season still matters. Classic symptoms (fever, cough, body aches, fatigue, sore throat, headache, congestion) remain consistent year to year, so you'll know it when it hits.

The bottom line: Flu season didn't wait for you this year, so don't wait for it — get vaccinated now and skip the guessing game entirely.

Read the original at Women's Health Magazine.