This year’s cold and flu season is turning out to be a doozy. Lately, it seems as though everyone has either the flu, norovirus, or a respiratory-related illness. About a week ago, I saw a chart that showed influenza cases per state. It looked bad. Apparently, we’re in the middle of a little “quad-emic” at the moment, with cases of influenza, norovirus, Covid, and RSV at a high. Yay, us!

As of this week, 41 states have reported “high” or “very high” cases of the flu or flu-like illnesses with an uptick in “flu-related ER visits.” In some states, children’s flu cases have jumped up 40%. It’s gotten so bad that schools in Texas, Ohio, Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia, Oklahoma, Iowa, and Missouri have all had to close to help prevent the spread.

Schools across the United States are closing due to spikes in influenza and other seasonal illnesses. As the 2024–2025 flu season rages on with no peak yet in sight, some school systems are overwhelmed with sick students and staff. Schools and even entire school districts are temporarily closing down in Texas, Ohio, Georgia, Tennessee and other states.

It’s a measure reminiscent of the COVID lockdown era: schools shutting their doors — some pausing classes entirely, while others pivot to remote learning — due to surges in respiratory illness. However, this time, influenza is the main culprit, and the closures are short-lived, with most lasting only a few days.

Flu activity is high nationally and continues to increase across the country, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control FluView surveillance report for the week ending on Jan. 25, the most recent data available. At least 41 states are currently reporting “very high” or “high” influenza-like illness activity, per the CDC. Flu-related ER visits and hospitalizations are also surging. At least 47 children have already died from flu during this season.

“What worries us the most are bacterial infections that can follow alongside influenza (and) get kids super, super sick. … Flu itself and those complications can lead to death in children. … Influenza is scary,” Dr. Jason Newland, the division chief of infectious diseases at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, tells TODAY.com.

At the same time, the U.S. is also seeing waves of norovirus, COVID-19 and RSV, which some are calling a “quad-demic.”

“The viral surge we’re seeing now is challenging,” Dr. Torey Mack, the chief medical officer of Children’s Hospital Association, which represents over 200 hospitals nationally, tells TODAY.com.

In addition to overcrowded emergency rooms and pediatricians’ offices, school systems are feeling the impact. So far, there have been at least 20 million illnesses, 250,000 hospitalizations and 11,000 deaths from influenza this season, according to CDC estimates.

In the U.S., flu activity tends to peak between December and February. However, this year’s flu season started much later than usual, ramping up in December and taking off after the holidays. According to many experts, the peak has yet to come, and elevated flu activity is expected to continue for weeks.

Schools are breeding grounds for germs. “Children in particular are great distributors of influenza viruses,” says Schaffner. Most school facilities are enclosed settings, where there is plenty of close contact and frequent sharing of objects and surfaces, which makes it easy for flu viruses to spread. Although the school closures may seem concerning, experts say it’s not surprising to see during an intense wave of illness.

“Closing schools for a period of time as a way of letting the outbreak pass is something local school boards sometimes have to resort to,” says Schaffner. “It won’t eliminate a growing outbreak, but it could very well slow it down. Schools close also because the adults in the school system are affected and need to take time off, so they can’t run the school.”

Many schools are taking the closures as an opportunity to deep-clean facilities. The experts say these closures will likely not lead to full lockdowns, and are a short-lived measure.

“I would hope we would never shut schools down again, but if it’s only for a couple days before this (virus) gets through everybody, that’s probably OK,” says Newland.

[From Variety]

It’s terrible that they need to do it, but I think it’s ultimately good that they closed schools for a few days. In 2022, there was a flu outbreak the first week of December at my son’s pre-K school. Ground zero was a birthday party at a local bouncy house. Every kid there, including my son, ended up with the flu and then it spread throughout the class. At one point, there were only three kids and one teacher between two pre-K classrooms who weren’t sick, so they ended up closing ‘em for three days for deep-cleaning.

I felt bad for all of these sick kids and for their parents, who probably feel helpless or sick themselves. The flu sucks (as does norovirus, which is the literal worst). The amount of fatalities this year is also hella scary. Hopefully, shutting down schools for a few days will work and we’ll start to see a drop in cases of the flu and everything else that’s going around. In the meantime, here’s your reminder to wash your hands, avoid indoor places with big crowds (if you can), wear a mask when possible (including around sick family members), and for goodness sake, if you don’t feel well, please stay home.

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