A new form of flu is sweeping across the U.S, with the highly contagious variant leading to more severe symptoms than other strains.
Named subclade K, the virus is a version of the H3N2 strain and has led to a surge in hospitalizations across multiple states.
Now, experts are warning that parents should keep an eye on their children’s flu symptoms with Dr Juanita Mora, a spokesperson for the American Lung Association, telling NBC’s Telemundo Chicago that the virus is hitting both children and adults “hard.”
“This new strain has symptoms of really high fevers, it has a really bad cough that won't go away, very phlegmy, and also vomiting and diarrhea and lots of joint aches as well as muscle aches,” she said.
She added that patients have been reporting fevers as high as 104 and 105 degrees. Other symptoms include a high fever, chills, headache, sore throat, a runny nose, fatigue and a cough.
A CDC report found that there has been a surge in medical visits related to respiratory illness, with New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Louisiana and Colorado recording “very high” numbers of outpatient visits.
Massachusetts, Connecticut, Michigan, Idaho, South Carolina and New Mexico are also marked as having a “high” number of cases.
Dr Neil Maniar, professor of public health practice at Northeastern University, has warned that the virus has not yet peaked. Boston, where Northeastern University is located, has been hit with a 114 percent surge in cases just days before Christmas, according to a press release from the Boston Public Health Commission.
“It’s becoming evident that this is a pretty severe variant of the flu,” he told Fox News Digital. “Certainly, in other parts of the world where this variant has been prevalent, it's caused some severe illness, and we're seeing an aggressive flu season already.”
So far, 1,900 people in the United States have died from flu infections this year, with 49,000 people being hospitalized, according to the CDC report.
Dr Mora told Telemundo Chicago that there are three key warning signs that you have been infected with the K variant. The first is a high fever that does not break.
“Two, the other thing, is any signs of shortness of breath,” she said. So when kids or adults are having trouble breathing, they start using their chest muscles, they start wheezing audibly, they start having a cough that won't go away. That's a sign to go to the ER.”
The third sign is dehydration, according to Dr Mora. She warned that contracting the flu can lead to patients refusing to eat or drink, instead lying in bed, which she warned can be “very dangerous” for children and elderly people.
Chest pain, difficulty breathing, not urinating, severe muscle pain or weakness, dizziness and confusion are all signs that you need to go to the Emergency Room, Dr Mora added.
Meanwhile, Dr Maniar has urged people to get the flu vaccine, even though the current inoculation has not been calibrated to deal with subclade K.
“The vaccine is very important to get,” he said, explaining that the vaccine can limit your symptoms even if you contract another form of influenza. "We're going in with lower vaccination rates and a variant that in itself seems to be more aggressive."
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His warning comes as the Secretary of Health, Robert F Kennedy Jr, and President Donald Trump continue to make false claims about the effectiveness of vaccines.
In 2020, RFK Jr falsely claimed that there is “zero evidence that the flu shot prevents any hospitalizations or any deaths,” according to the New York Times.
More recently, a federal advisory committee overseen by RFK Jr voted to end the recommendation that U.S. babies are given the hepatitis B vaccine.
During his second administration, Trump has pushed concerns about vaccines even further by suggesting that MMR shots can cause health problems for children and even suggested that kids are being given gigantic shots.
“Vaccines are very interesting,” the president said. “They can be great, but when you put the wrong stuff in them, you know… And, you know, children get these massive vaccines like you’d give to a horse… like you’d give to a horse.”
Doctors slammed the Trump administration for its skepticism over vaccines, with Dr Steven Schulz saying that shots are “incredibly effective and incredibly safe” on WXXI’s Conversations with Evan Dawson.
“The vaccines on the market are far safer than if you take your chances with the illness,” Dr Geoff Weinberg added on the same podcast. “If you're trying to provide the maximum safety to your child, I would always, every year, I would give them the influenza vaccine and, now, the COVID vaccine.”
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