February 4, 2026

A New Flu Variant is in Town, Raising Concerns for Experts and Families Alike

With a rude introduction to the new year, a new flu variant—influenza A, H3N2 subclade K—has made its way into the United States.

Shocking. We have a different flu season every year because viruses constantly mutate. Our 2025 flu vaccine is still good. So, what’s the big deal this late in the season?

This particular flu strain of influenza A is H3N2, a common version of the flu, but “subclade K” is new and a cause for concern for all of us. 

The 2025 flu vaccine was developed months before this variant was identified. This created a mismatch in health protection. The frequency and severity of the flu season this year has been complicated by vaccine hesitancy and misinformation. 

• Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has reduced childhood immunization recommendations. Our public health experts in California have disproved and invalidated his claims. These allegations are not backed up by science and real evidence.
  

Despite our previous flu season (2024-2025) having been one of the worst in recent decades, Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. removed the recommendations for universal flu vaccinations for children. Last year’s flu season was characterized as “high severity” by the CDC based on metrics about hospitalizations, cases, and deaths. We saw that over 560,000 people were hospitalized, and a record-breaking number of at least 279 children died because of the flu. We all refer to being sick in the winter as just having the “flu.” Yet half a million people were hospitalized, and 279 children died.

What do we know about the virus so far?

According to the CDC, this year’s flu season has seen the highest number of cases in more than 30 years. They reported at least 20,000,000 illnesses, 270,000 hospitalizations, and 11,000 flu-related deaths. Of those 10,000 flu-related deaths, 52 are pediatric deaths so far. About 90% of these reported pediatric deaths were “of children not fully vaccinated against influenza.”

Seasonal influenza activity remains elevated nationwide where the most reported influenza viruses this season are subclade K. Given the changes in vaccine recommendations, vaccine hesitancy, and the amount of misinformation, weekly hospitalization rates for children under 18 have reached a record high.

Flu hospitalizations are rising and are expected to continue rising in California, especially in the Bay Area and Southern California. Keep an eye out for more information from public health experts. It is not a super flu. Getting vaccinated remains our best line of defense in keeping ourselves and others protected.

How do we protect our health this flu season?

To protect ourselves and our families, it is crucial to prevent the spread of germs and disease. One of the most important ways to minimize the severity of your illness is by getting your flu shot! While our current flu vaccine was not developed specifically for this new flu variant, it still provides strong protection against hospitalizations and death. Some protection is better than none. The flu vaccine helps reduce the severity of symptoms, rates of hospitalizations, and risk of death.

Those with the weakest immune systems, such as our babies under six months of age and those of us on chemotherapy or HIV, cannot get the vaccine. They are counting on us and the rest of society to protect them. How would you feel if you had the flu and a loved one who was immunocompromised became critically ill?

Listed below are some of the many ways you can keep yourself and society healthy:

• Wash your hands to prevent the spread of germs! While we do this regularly, not everyone may know how to do so properly:
  • 1. Wet your hands with clean, running water.
  • 2. Apply soap to hands
  • 3. Lather and scrub for at least 20 seconds (some people sing “Happy Birthday!” twice)
  • 4. Rinse your hands with clean, running water.
  • 5. Dry your hands with a clean towel

• Avoid touching your face (i.e., eyes, nose, and mouth) with unwashed hands. Did you know that on average, we touch our faces more than 400 times a day? If for no other reason, when we wear a mask, it prevents us from touching our eyes, nose, and lips. We are not protecting others. We are protecting ourselves.

• Avoid touching surfaces or objects with germs.

• • If you do, make sure to wash your hands!
• Disinfect surfaces or objects often, such as your phone, doorknobs, or countertops. 
  • This is one of the specific situations in which the disinfectant wipes that kill germs for hours work!
• Sneeze or cough into the sleeve of your arm, facing away from other people. 
• Wear a mask if you are feeling unwell to protect others from getting sick, too.

Luckily, antiviral treatments, such as Tamiflu and Paxlovid, still work against H3N2 subclade K and can speed up your recovery. If you are unsure about whether you have the flu and/or COVID-19, schedule an appointment with your doctor or take an at-home test kit to determine which you have. Combination test kits that check for the influenza virus, COVID-19, and RSV are available at your local pharmacies or the FDA website. Knowing the results is important because there are treatments for all of these!