This flu season is shaping up to be the worst in recent history, according to CBS News.
Doctors have expressed concern, according to multiple news outlets, after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported nearly 10 million were infected with 87,000 hospitalizations and 4,800 deaths — 32 of them children — and one of them in Utah, according to the Deseret News.
According to ABC News, this season has seen a 65% increase in flu deaths, but what is making this particular season so deadly?
This season, for the first time in over 25 years, the flu strain going around isn’t influenza A, but influenza B, which is known to cause even more complications for children, according to CBS News.
The flu also started spreading early this season, and it shows no sign of slowing down any time soon, according to a statement from William Schaffner, the medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, per ABC News.
According to the CDC’s weekly FluView, which breaks down the data on how the disease is spreading, Utah is among the 36 states reporting high levels of “influenza-like-illness.”
CBS News reported that parents should be wary if their children start complaining of muscle aches, trouble breathing start acting significantly less alert, or if they observe extremely high fevers or color changes in their child’s lips or skin.
Parents should seek a doctors care immediately as these symptoms could be a sign of heart muscle swelling, brain swelling or pneumonia.