Flu cases on the rise amid holiday travel, gatherings, latest CDC data shows
Stock photo of a sick child. Natalia Lebedinskaia/STOCK PHOTO/Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — Flu activity is increasing across the U.S. amid holiday travel and gatherings, according to the latest data the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC estimates there have been at least 4.6 million illnesses, 49,000 hospitalizations and 1,900 deaths from flu this season so far, according to data updated as of Dec. 19, and experts expect these numbers will continue to rise.
Public health experts previously told ABC News that many of this season’s cases are linked to a new flu strain called subclade K — a variant of the H3N2 virus, which is itself a subtype of influenza A — that has been circulating since the summer in other countries.
Of the 163 samples of H3N2 viruses collected since Sept. 28 and genetically characterized, 89% were subclade K, according to the CDC.
Additionally, three pediatric flu deaths have been reported so far this season, according to an ABC News tally.
Last season, the U.S. saw 288 children die from flu, which is the same number of children who died during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic. About 90% of kids who died from flu last year were not vaccinated, a CDC study published earlier this year found.
Meanwhile, New York state is reporting the highest number of flu cases it has ever recorded in a single week.
“The emergency room has been busy, and we’ve been following these numbers,” Dr. Darien Sutton, a board-certified emergency medical physician and ABC News medical correspondent, told “Good Morning America” on Monday. “Just a note, national numbers typically lag during the holiday, but state health department numbers are giving us insight to just how severe this flu season is.”
A total of 71,123 flu cases were reported for the week ending Dec. 20, according to the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH). This marks the highest number of flu cases in a single week since it became mandatory for states to report in 2004.
This is also 38% higher compared to the previous week which saw 51,365 infections reported, bringing the total flu cases reported in the state to 189,312.
Hospitalizations climbed by 63% in the most recent week, increasing from 2,251 to 3,666 weekly admissions, according to data from NYSDOH.
Sutton said it’s important to understand that flu is present and to take steps to reduce risk, including masking, washing hands with soap and water and getting the flu vaccine.
Currently, the CDC recommends that everyone aged 6 months and older, with rare exceptions, get a flu vaccine.
The federal health agency states on its website that getting an annual flu shot prevents millions of illnesses and flu-related doctors’ visits every year and is especially important for those at higher risk of serious complications.
“The flu is so much more than a simple cold. I am treating it in the emergency room,” Sutton said. “Understand that people are coming in feeling like they are so sick that it has to be something else than the flu.”
Sutton noted that he is seeing more people in the emergency room and more people being hospitalized but that the disease itself is not more severe, adding “it’s not like a super flu.”
Tylenol caplets are displayed on September 22, 2025 in San Anselmo, California. The Trump administration will reportedly link use of the painkiller acetaminophen during pregnancy to autism during a White House press conference today. (Photo Illustration by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the makers of Tylenol, Johnson & Johnson and Kenvue, claiming that they deceptively marketed the over-the-counter medication to pregnant women despite alleged links to autism and other disorders.
“Big Pharma betrayed America by profiting off of pain and pushing pills regardless of the risks,” Paxton said in a statement on Tuesday. “These corporations lied for decades, knowingly endangering millions to line their pockets. … By holding Big Pharma accountable for poisoning our people, we will help Make America Healthy Again.”
This is the first lawsuit from a state government since President Donald Trump claimed last month that Tylenol use during pregnancy is linked to an increased risk of autism, despite limited evidence to suggest an association.
Johnson & Johnson sold the drug for decades and its consumer health division spinoff, Kenvue Inc., has been selling the drug since 2023.
In a statement, Kenvue pushed back on the attorney general’s claims, saying it is “deeply concerned by the perpetuation of misinformation on the safety of acetaminophen and the potential impact that could have on the health of American women and children.”
“Acetaminophen is the safest pain reliever option for pregnant women as needed throughout their entire pregnancy. Without it, women face dangerous choices: suffer through conditions like fever that are potentially harmful to both mom and baby or use riskier alternatives. High fevers and pain are widely recognized as potential risks to a pregnancy if left untreated,” the statement read. “We will defend ourselves against these baseless claims and respond per the legal process. We stand firmly with the global medical community that acknowledges the safety of acetaminophen and believe we will continue to be successful in litigation as these claims lack legal merit and scientific support.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — As the federal government shutdown enters its tenth day, one major health care issue has continued to be a sticking point: insurance subsidies.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies, or premium tax credits, help lower or eliminate the out-of-pocket cost of monthly premiums for those who purchase insurance through the health insurance marketplace.
Eligibility for the subsidies can include factors such as household income and geographic location.
The subsidies were part of the original Affordable Care Act passed during the Obama administration and were enhanced during the COVID-19 pandemic to increase the amount of financial assistance to those who were already eligible and to expand eligibility to more people. They are set to expire at the end of the year.
Republicans have said the expansions from the pandemic era went too far and have tried to persuade Democrats to fund a temporary spending bill that doesn’t address the expiring ACA subsidies, with promises of discussing ways to continue the subsidies later.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., referred to the Dec. 31 deadline to extend subsidies as being far away.
“That’s a Dec. 31 issue,” he said during a news conference earlier this week. “There are lots of conversations and deliberations and discussions right now, even bipartisan amongst members about necessary changes that would have to be made, pretty dramatic changes to even have that considered on the floor. But look, I’m not going to forecast the outcome of that.”
However, Democrats say that with open enrollment for ACA plans beginning Nov. 1, the subsidies not being approved could be detrimental for millions of American families.
“The Democrats have said that their position on getting out of the shutdown period is that they would want to both extend and make permanent these enhanced marketplace premium tax credits,” Melinda Buntin, a professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, told ABC News.
“The thing at the very top of the list is these subsidies because they are so salient and they will directly affect the pocketbooks of so many millions of Americans,” Buntin said.
Buntin said that if open enrollment begins and these subsidies are not approved and loaded into the enrollment systems, people are likely to see their premiums go up.
Estimates from the Congressional Budget Office suggest that, without an extension, gross benchmark premiums could increase by 4.3% in 2026 and by 7.7% in 2027 for those on marketplace plans.
A KFF analysis last month found that people who buy insurance from the marketplace, and receive financial assistance, would see their premiums rise by about 114% on average, from $888 in 2025 to $1,904 in 2026.
There is broad support for the tax credits. A recent KFF poll, which was fielded just before the government shut down on Oct. 1, found that 78% of Americans support extending the enhanced tax credits, including more than half of Republicans and of “Make America Great Again” supporters.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries expressed on Thursday the need to extend tax credits, stating, “[U]nless we extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, tens of millions of Americans are about to experience dramatically increased premiums, co-pays and deductibles by thousands of dollars per year.”
Buntin says this could affect many Americans, but particularly those who live in states where Medicaid was not expanded and buying insurance on the marketplace is their only option.
Naomi Zewde, a fellow at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and assistant professor of health policy and management at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, told ABC News that working low-income families and adults will be affected if the ACA subsidies are not approved.
“Mainly those who don’t get insurance through their job, who make too much for Medicaid but not enough to pay [about] $600-plus per month for a plan with a two-to-three-thousand-dollar deductible,” she said.
However, James Blumstein, university distinguished professor of constitutional law and health law and policy at Vanderbilt University School of Law, told ABC News that even if the subsidies lapse and the Nov. 1 deadline arrives, a deal could be worked out to retroactively fix the issue.
He added that he believes congressional Democrats and Republicans could also come up with a deal that saves the ACA subsidies but doesn’t keep the full expansions that were offered during the pandemic.
“I think the leverage for the Democrats will diminish,” he said. “Republicans have passed a continuing resolution so that this issue is going to come back up five or six weeks again.”
Blumstein continued, “Democrats will have leverage again in five or six weeks and I think that whether this goes into the period of new enrollment or not, that can all be fixed in the deal. In other words, if the time lapses that can be overcome by the subsidies coming a little bit later.”
Earlier this week, President Donald Trump indicated that he was negotiating with Democrats on health care policy and that he was open to making a deal on health care subsidies in an attempt to reopen the government.
“We have a negotiation going on with the Democrats that could lead to good things, and I’m talking about good things with regard to health care,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
“If we made the right deal, I’d make a deal. Sure,” Trump said in reference to making a deal to approve ACA subsidies.
In a statement, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer denied that the White House was negotiating with Democrats.
Trump later walked back his willingness to make a deal, writing on social media that he would work with Democrats as long as the government is reopened first.
Democratic leaders have said they are not willing to vote to reopen the government unless Republicans negotiate on health care demands, while Republicans have signaled unwillingness to negotiate on health care policy unless the government is reopened — an effective stalemate.
“Republicans are saying that we should have what is referred to as a clean bill, just continue the government operations as they were, without extending these subsidies, and then once we’ve got that, then we can come back and we can talk about things like extending the subsidies,” Buntin said. “Democrats are seen so far unwilling to agree to that, which I think represents a sort of breakdown in normal process.”
She continued, “Democrats are seeing a political opening, because there are so many millions of people who depend on these subsidies to be able to afford health insurance, and there’s nothing like a deadline to use to get something you want.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services told ABC News in a statement earlier this week that Democrats are to blame for the shutdown.
“Senate Democrats are choosing to keep the government shut down, putting major health programs at risk. They should do the right thing and vote to reopen the government,” the statement read.
(WASHINGTON) — Cases of norovirus are rising across the United States, doubling over the last few months, according to updated data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Nearly 14% of tests came back positive for norovirus during the most recent week ending Nov. 15, compared to roughly 7% about three months ago.
Test positivity is a metric used to identify how many people are confirmed to have norovirus after an illness is suspected.
Health experts have said that, like other measurements, test positivity is imperfect as it depends on the number of tests that are ordered, which can vary.
Last December saw a record-breaking rate of norovirus cases in the U.S. with nearly 25% of tests coming back positive. Cases had been trending down since then but have begun to rise in recent weeks, CDC data shows.
Electronic health records data from Epic Research show that Alabama, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas and Wyoming are some of the states currently experiencing the highest number of norovirus cases. Emergency department visits have been on the rise since July, Epic Research data shows.
Norovirus is a highly contagious virus that is the most common cause of viral gastroenteritis, which is an inflammation of the inside lining of the gastrointestinal tract.
Although it’s often referred to as the “stomach bug” or “stomach flu,” norovirus illness is not related to influenza.
Norovirus is the leading cause of foodborne illness in the U.S., causing 58% of foodborne illnesses each year, and responsible for about 2,5000 outbreaks annually, according to the CDC.
The most common symptoms are nausea, vomiting, stomach pain and diarrhea. Patients, however, can also experience fever, headaches and body aches.
Typically, an infected person will develop symptoms between 12 to 48 hours after being infected. However, norovirus typically resolves quickly and, in most healthy adults, lasts one to three days, according to the CDC.
Health experts say the best way to prevent getting norovirus is to wash hands with warm soap and water for 20 seconds. Hand sanitizer alone does not work well against norovirus.
The CDC says people should wash their hands after using the toilet or changing diapers as well as when eating, preparing or handling food.
