Doctors Reveal Worrying Signs in Early Flu Trends, Warn of Unusually Bad Season

This year’s flu season is already raising alarm among public health officials and infectious disease experts.

According to the BBC, the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) has issued an “SOS” warning amid growing concerns that this winter could bring one of the most serious flu waves in recent times.

“This flu season is going to be unusually bad,” Dr. Jacob Glanville, CEO of Centivax, a San Francisco biotechnology company, told News Digital. “Britain is being hit earlier and harder, with cases tripling compared to last year.”

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Australia reportedly experienced its worst flu season in 2024, a pattern that has often foreshadowed what is to come in the northern hemisphere.

In the United States, the first indicators point in the same direction.

Dr. Ravi Jhaveri, professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and chief of the division of pediatric infectious diseases at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago, said “there are signs of early flu activity in segments of the country,” adding that vaccination rates have continued to decline since the pandemic.

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That combination could mean a tough season ahead, the expert told News Digital, particularly because there appears to be more of the H3N2 strain right now, which may be associated with lower flu vaccine effectiveness.

“Meanwhile, vaccines contain strains that are several years old,” Glanville warned. “They contain a mixture of a 2021 strain, a 2022 strain and a 2023 strain. This means that the flu vaccines do not match the virus.”

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The current strain also has a history of producing more severe illness and higher hospitalization rates, according to the doctor. Meanwhile, the virus continues to mutate, making it difficult for the immune system to recognize it.

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“The flu virus constantly mutates in small quantities to evade our immune system,” Jhaveri said, which is the main reason new vaccines are developed every year.

The virus appears to be spreading earlier than usual this year and researchers aren’t entirely sure why.

Jhaveri noted that while the timing of flu season can vary from year to year, there may now be a change in how different respiratory viruses interact.

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“In the past, we used to see flu start to emerge when RSV had surpassed its maximum circulation,” he said. “Now that we have more prevention options for RSV, the overall pattern of the respiratory virus may have changed.”

It is still recommended that people get vaccinated, Glanville emphasized, but protection will be “partial at best and worse than normal.”

Immunity against the flu may also be weaker this year. As Jhaveri noted, immunity “increases after vaccination and natural infection,” but wanes over time, especially in older adults.

Still, based on Australia’s data, “we think the vaccine should offer the usual levels of protection,” he said.

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High-risk people (including those with chronic illnesses, weakened immune systems, or obesity, as well as pregnant women and young children) should take special caution.

“About half of children who die from flu and flu-related complications have no prior risk factors,” Jhaveri said, emphasizing that vaccination remains “the first step in flu prevention.”

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For those hesitant to visit a clinic, a nasal spray vaccine was recently approved for self-administration or for parents and caregivers, allowing families to get vaccinated at home, Jhaveri noted.

Glanville’s company Centivax is “developing a universal flu vaccine and will enter human trials in early 2026,” he added.