Name: What to know about the new flu strain as cases rise
Uploaded: 2025-12-22T15:17:47.213Z
Duration: 3 min 3 s
Description: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates there have been 4.6 million flu cases across the U.S. since the season began. Dr. Amanda Kravitz, a pediatrician at Weill Cornell in New York, explains what to know about rising cases, symptoms to watch for and how to protect your family.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates there have been 4.6 million flu cases across the U.S. since the season began. Dr. Amanda Kravitz, a pediatrician at Weill Cornell in New York, explains what to know about rising cases, symptoms to watch for and how to protect your family.

Washington

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 4.6 million flu cases have occurred across the United States since the start of the season, with 1,900 reported deaths. Dr. Amanda Kravitz, a pediatrician at Weill Cornell, highlighted that the current flu season is more severe than usual, largely due to the predominance of the influenza A H3N2 variant, which is causing intense and rapidly appearing symptoms.

While it is still early to determine the exact effectiveness of this year's flu vaccine against H3N2, vaccinated individuals are experiencing milder symptoms and shorter illness durations. Dr. Kravitz advises parents to monitor symptoms in children, ensure hydration, and practice good hand hygiene, especially during the busy holiday travel period. She also encourages those who have not yet received the flu shot to do so.

What to know about the new flu strain as cases rise

This morning's health watch we are looking at the flu season getting worst just before Christmas, the CDC estimates there have been 4.6 million flu cases across the U.S. since the season began 1900 patients have already died from it that is shocking doctor Amanda Kravitz is a pediatrician at Weill Cornell here in New York. She's here to help us protect ourselves and our families from the flu doctor good morning, good morning, what is happening with this flu season is this a particularly bad one. Yes, this flu season is no joke we are seeing more cases than we would expect for this time of year specifically we're seeing influenza a and within influenza a we're seeing a subtype or variant called H 3 and 2 there are tons of these cases throughout the country and it is causing a very very severe flu. So symptoms that are very intense they come on really really rapidly and it is very contagious so it is spreading quickly through communities so is the flu shot. Designed for this particular strain. So it's a little early in the season to say there should be some coverage against the strain, but we don't know how good the coverages against the H 3 and 2 variant that we're seeing we do still think it's offering protection in the sense that patients who have gotten the flu shot are having decreased severity of symptoms and aren't sick for as many days compared to their counterparts who did not get the flu shot. So 3 children have died so far this flu season, what do parents need to know about the symptoms for their children and how do you tell the difference between the other thing that's raging right now is norovirus every kid seems to be getting norovirus totally and there's definitely some overlap between norovirus and the flu norovirus we think of a common stomach bug so it's really bad vomiting and diarrhea, it's not often accompanied with some of the other flu like symptoms such as the high high fevers like one oh 3 one oh 4 degrees Fahrenheit. Also the body aches and coughs so we don't typically see that in norovirus we do see it in the flu. We are seeing vomiting in children this year specifically with this variant of the flu, but it's still usually not too hard to tell the difference between the 2 things the flu is also lasting longer so in terms of things for parents look out for if the symptoms are lasting a long time like more than 4 or 5 days, especially that high fever. It's a good idea to call that their doctor their pediatrician additionally you want to make sure your kids are staying hydrated so it's easy for them to forget to drink, especially when they have that high fever we want to make sure they're drinking a lot and we also want to make sure that they're breathing comfortably that that cough isn't getting to them, especially for kids with asthma or other conditions like that so real quick real quick what do we recommend people do as we get ready for this busy travel holiday. Yeah, so holiday season is always a big culprit for everybody, you know spreading lots of germs lots of flu like illnesses. So number one thing is going to be washing your hands and of course using good judgment so making sure that if you know you or your family member is sick really not going to that big family gathering trying to limit exposure like I said hand hygiene is great and also if you haven't already it's not too late to get your flu shot. All right, no sounds like a stupid question but drinking take the immune system down. I'm yeah, I want to go at the holiday party. I'm doctor Amanda Kravitz thank you so much for joining us in my kind of.

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