The flu season, which runs from October through May, typically peaks in February. Public health officials say they don’t yet know whether the flu season is peaking earlier than normal, or if this year will be a particularly tough one for the flu. H3N2 was to blame for Australia’s most recent, brutal flu season, which led to record numbers of sick people as well as the nickname “Aussie flu.”In California, state officials collect flu death data only among people under 65. So many older people die of the flu each year that monitoring deaths under 65 reveals more about the severity of the flu season, they say. Silicon Valley’s Camino Hospital has been treating double the number of flu patients it typically sees this time of year.

Source: Los Angeles Times January 12, 2018 17:37 UTC