Flu Hits New Jersey Hard This Holiday Season

Feeling under the weather this holiday season with fever, chills, and muscle pain? You’re definitely not alone in New Jersey.

Data from state and federal health agencies indicates that flu activity is ramping up more intensely and earlier this year compared to the last two seasons.

Currently, New Jersey is among five states labeled as having “very high” flu activity, alongside New York, Rhode Island, Louisiana, and Colorado. These evaluations are based on the number of outpatient visits to healthcare providers for flu-related symptoms.

The predominant strain reported is the Influenza A virus, according to the CDC.

If you’re curious whether it could be some other illness like COVID-19, RSV, or adenovirus, those are circulating as well, though, not at the same frequency as the flu, as per the state’s health report.

Flu viruses do hang around throughout the year in the U.S., but we typically see the most cases between December and February. For instance, last year, New Jersey hit its peak flu activity in the first week of February, recording over 14,000 cases.

However, as of the week ending December 20, New Jersey had reported 11,472 flu cases — a noticeable jump from just 6,940 the previous week.

Interestingly, last year’s spike in cases didn’t occur until late January.

It’s likely that the numbers could continue to climb once we factor in the aftermath of holiday gatherings.

Before the winter break, K-12 schools had already reported 42 influenza outbreaks for December. The year before, there were only 4 outbreaks during the same period.

Hospitalization rates have also seen an upward trend, with about 8% of emergency room visits attributed to flu-related issues. So far, 500 hospitalizations have been recorded for flu, COVID-19, and RSV, most of which have been for the flu — a significant rise compared to around 150 this time last year.

Long-term care centers are experiencing fewer outbreaks than in previous Decembers. There have been 68 respiratory illness outbreaks this month, over half of which involve the flu. Last year saw more than 100 outbreaks in the same month, but the current month still has some days to go.

Although most hospitalizations are among those aged 65 and older, severe cases in children are also being noted.

New Jersey has reported 31 severe pediatric flu cases this year. For comparison, last season totaled 149 severe cases with 5 pediatric deaths.

The CDC recommends that everyone aged 6 months and older get vaccinated against the flu.

Common flu symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, stuffy or runny nose, body aches, headaches, and fatigue.