Flu Skyrockets Across California, Claiming 11 Children

LOS ANGELES, CA — In one of the worst flu seasons of the 21st century, influenza is currently deadlier than COVID-19 in California for the first time since the before the pandemic.

While the spread of COVID-19 is currently low in the Golden State, influenza is still spreading at high levels, and it's hitting young people and seniors particularly hard this year, according to the California Department of Public Health.

Since the start of the flu season, which began in the fall and peaked in early February, 751 people have died from the flu in California as of Feb. 8, according to death certificates analyzed by the California Department of Public Health. Among those, flu claimed the lives of 563 people 64 or older and 11 people 18 or younger, including several teens.

In many cases, people are being hospitalized due to severe complications triggered by the illness.

In deadly pediatric cases, patients experienced neurologic complications, including brain swelling. Among adults hospitalized with the flu, specialists are seeing an increase in cases of pneumonia caused by MRSA, a flesh-eating superbug bacteria, CNN reported.

“We’re seeing a lot of MRSA pneumonia and really bad MRSA pneumonia after influenza, so what we call necrotizing, where you’re getting a lot of destruction of the lung tissue,” said Dr. John Lynch, an infectious disease specialist at UW Medicine told CNN.

The flu is spreading at very high rates in California, accounting for nearly 27 percent of clinical lab detections statewide and 3.4 percent of total deaths for the week ending Feb. 8, the most recent reporting available.

The Walgreens Flu Index an online, interactive tool that tracks weekly flu activity based on prescription data, shows that overall, U.S. flu activity is 204% higher compared to the same time last year.

“What’s most concerning is not the number of cases but the number of hospitalizations and outpatient visits that we are seeing,” said Anita Pael, vice president of pharmacy services development at Walgreens said in a Walgreens news release. “I don’t believe cases have peaked yet, so it’s critical for people to remember to wash their hands frequently, and if you’re feeling symptoms, get tested right away.”

Most positive influenza specimens are type A, which traditional impact the young and the old hardest. Both H1 and H3 strains are circulating, the CDPH reported.

Flu activity previously peaked in mid-December statewide. It started climbing again in mid-January reaching it's highest point in early February, according to national data.

State health experts are reminding people that it's not too late to get the flu shot. According to the CDC, only an estimated 45 percent of adults have received the flu shot this year. Knowing the flu is spreading at high rates across California, residents should be taking pains to wash their hands frequently, stay home when feeling ill, and wear masks around vulnerable people, health officials advise.

Antiviral drugs are available to treat the flu, but they are most effective when administered at the first sign of flu symptoms.