The flu is back with case counts that look comparable to those that predate the pandemic, with one important distinction.
Levels of influenza-like illness, used as a measure of the respiratory disease’s spread, have been on a decline for three weeks since early January, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s far earlier than the typical peak in February or March.
“If you’ve seen one flu season and another, each one is distinctive,” said William Schaffner, a Vanderbilt University infectious disease expert. “And this one has caught those of us who watch flu very carefully by surprise.”
