This year’s flu is, in fact, worse than usual, writes The Atlantic. Not only did it get started earlier than usual, but it has been more severe. Twenty kids have died from the flu since October and during the week that ended on Jan. 6, 22.7 out of every 100,000 hospitalizations in the U.S. were for flu, which was twice the number of the previous week. The virus is stronger than normal. The dominant strain circulating this year is H3N2, which hits humans harder than other strains. Plus, this year’s vaccine was only 10 percent effective against the problematic H3N2 strain in Australia. Flu viruses can pick up mutations and evolves as they grow in bird cells, which are not their preferred environment. The H3N2 strain is especially prone to significant egg-induced mutations. This does not mean the flu vaccine this year is useless because it still protects against other strains of the flu and provides at least some immunity to H3N2. Finally, hospitals are dealing with more flu patients at the same time that they’re running out of IV bags, basic equipment that is in distressingly short supply across much of the country these days. IV bags are manufactured in Puerto Rico, and the blackout after Hurricane Maria massively disrupted manufactured on the island.
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