Flu cases surging in California as officials warn of powerful strain

Karen Garcia, Los Angeles Times on Jan 15, 2026

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LOS ANGELES — California officials are issuing warnings about a new flu strain that is increasing flu-related cases and hospitalizations statewide, with public health experts across the nation echoing the alerts.

A newly emerged influenza A strain, H3N2 subclade K, is already wreaking havoc globally and is affecting hospitals and clinics in California, the California Department of Public Health announced on Tuesday. Although the agency did not provide specific data for California cases, it described the seasonal flu activity as "elevated" in the state.

"Flu started to rise, in earnest, by mid-December and rates are still up," said Dr. Elizabeth Hudson, regional physician chief of infectious diseases for Kaiser Permanente. "We are hoping to see some plateauing in the next few weeks, but there's some delay in data due to recent holidays, so it will become clearer in the next week or so."

Hudson said most flu-related cases are being treated without the need for hospital admittance, "but those who are older or at higher risk for complications from the flu are the ones we're mostly seeing admitted."

According to CDPH data, there's a high rate of positive flu cases in Central California and the Bay Area and a moderate rate around Sacramento and Southern California. In the northern part of the state where it's more rural, the rate of flu cases is currently low, according to the CDPH website.

In Los Angeles County, recent data from the health department shows that between the end of last year and start of 2026, there were 162 flu-related hospitalizations and an additional 18 cases where patients were admitted into intensive care.

So far, this flu season has led to the highest number of cases in in the U.S. in more than 30 years. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that there have been 11 million infections in the U.S., with 120,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths, since late fall. At least two of those deaths have been children, said Yvonne Maldonado, the Taube professor of global health and infectious disease at Stanford Medicine, in a news release. CDPH confirmed that those pediatric flu-associated deaths occurred in California.

Last year, infectious disease experts had predicted this flu season would be particularly bad for high-risk groups, specifically children, due to a decline in flu vaccination rates and a "souped-up mutant" flu strain, Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious diseases expert at UC San Francisco, told The Times.

Last year's flu season was one of the worst, "but little did we know what was in store for us this year," said Dr. Neha Nanda, medical director of antimicrobial stewardship with Keck Medicine of USC. While it isn't completely on par with last year, Nanda said she is seeing an early upward trend in positive influenza cases this season, compared with previous years.

Dr. Sam Torbati, co-chair and medical director of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center's emergency department, said around the second week of December he saw a lot of patients coming into his department with flu-related illnesses, part of a spike in hospitalizations that was seen throughout the county.

He said he doesn't recall "seeing this many patients becoming this ill."

"It's very early in the flu season and may get much worse," Torbati said.

Experts believe the strain has mutated to "more likely evade" immunity from the current vaccine. That's because the strain emerged toward the end of the summer, long after health officials had already determined the formula for the flu vaccine.

"Current seasonal flu vaccines remain effective at reducing severe illness and hospitalization, including the currently circulating viruses," said Dr. Erica Pan, CDPH director and State Public Health officer.

Even though the flu shot might not keep you from succumbing to the illness, "it lessens your odds of having a severe case, keeps you out of the hospital and shortens the duration of the illness," said Dr. Michelle Barron, senior medical director of infection prevention and control for UCHealth, in a report by the Assn. of American Medical Colleges.

Officials are urging the public, especially those at higher risk for severe flu complications such as the very young and older populations, to get vaccinated or take immediate antiviral treatment, such as Tamifu.

The flu can be very serious with symptoms — fatigue, fever, cough and body aches — that feel like you got "hit by a Mack truck," Hudson said.

For children and other high-risk individuals, the symptoms can feel exaggerated.

"Children can develop dehydration [or] pneumonia, and more severe cases of flu in kids can lead to inflammation of the brain and heart," Hudson said.

The problem has not been limited to the U.S. The influenza A strain, H3N2 subclade K, has caused severe flu seasons in Australia, Japan, the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe and Asia.