The flu has already infected over 2.5 million people this season, with the southeastern and south central regions of the U.S. seeing the highest number of cases so far, according to estimates from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The flu commonly peaks between December and February, but begins to take off in November. Its symptoms—among them fever, aches, fatigue, cough, and sore throat—mirror those of COVID and even the common cold, so a test most effectively deciphers which virus you may have. As of last week, over 5% of health care visits were related to respiratory illnesses and over 6,000 people were admitted to the hospital for the flu; the overall hospitalization rate for the flu this season has risen above what it’s been at this time for the past 10 years.
“I'm certainly concerned with the trajectory,” Dr. Scott Roberts, associate medical director of infection prevention at Yale New Haven Hospital, tells Fortune. “It’s almost an exponential rise right now.”
