When Does Flu Season Start, and is it Coming Back This Year?

Understanding Flu Season Timing  

What Are The Months For Flu Season?  

Flu can start to circulate in October and November, peak between December and February, and extend all the way through April and May. Research suggests that temperature and humidity play a role in influenza viral transmission, affecting the timing of flu season.

What Months Can You Get The Flu?

You can get the flu year-round. However, flu activity usually picks up in October. Cases typically peak around November and remain high through February. Flu activity typically begins to decline in March. 

Peak Months of Flu Activity  

The peak flu season for 2024-2025 is right around the corner. The exact date cannot be predicted, but based on historical trends, cases are expected to start rising in October and peak between November and February.

When Does Flu Season Officially Start?

Flu season officially starts in October of each year.

What Is Considered The Current Flu Season?

The current flu season in the United States is from October 2024 to May 2025. 

Is Flu Common This Time of Year?

The exact dates of the flu season in the United States vary from year to year. However, flu season typically starts in the fall when temperatures begin to fall and ends when temperatures rise in the spring. This means the typical flu season in the US runs from October through April. This is also true for other countries such as Canada and Europe. 

Flu seasons in other countries may occur at different times of the year. For example, in countries in the Southern Hemisphere, such as Australia, South Africa, and Brazil, the flu season runs in the winter months: April through October (opposite to the US).

Can You Get Flu In Summer?

Yes, you can get a flu infection in the summer, but it is more common during the flu season, which is the fall and winter months. 

Flu Awareness and Prevention

When Does the Flu Peak in a Person?

Flu tends to peak in a person around 3 to 4 days after symptoms start, though the timing can vary depending on the person’s overall health and immune response. The peak occurs as the body’s immune system ramps up its response to fight the influenza virus. Immune mediators are released in high quantities, contributing to inflammation and many symptoms of the flu. 

Symptoms of the flu, including fever, fatigue, weakness, muscle pain, and body aches, are at their worst during this stage. This peak can last 1-2 days, during which time symptoms may be intense. Symptoms such as fatigue and residual weakness may persist for several days to weeks.

Is It A Cold or The Flu?

The common cold and the flu (influenza) share many of the same symptoms. However, cold symptoms are usually milder than flu symptoms. Also, a common cold mainly causes a runny nose, stuffy nose, nasal congestion, and sneezing. In addition to these nasal symptoms, people with the flu can also have fever, chills, cough, sore throat, muscle aches, body aches, headache, and fatigue. 

Differences Between Flu and COVID-19

Influenza (flu) and COVID-19 are both contagious viral respiratory infections, but they are caused by different viruses. Flu is caused by influenza viruses and COVID-19 is caused by the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) virus. Research and clinical experience suggests COVID-19 spreads more easily than the flu and causes a more severe illness.

However, you cannot tell the difference between flu and COVID-19 based on symptoms alone because both cause the same symptoms. Testing by a healthcare provider can confirm the diagnosis and allow you to receive the proper treatment. Early diagnosis and treatment can lower the risk of getting very sick from either respiratory illness. 

You should stay up to date on all recommended vaccines, including the flu vaccine and COVID-19 vaccine. 

How to Stay Healthy This Flu Season?

The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) recommends the following tips to stay healthy and avoid catching the flu and other respiratory viruses this season:

• Get a flu shot.

• Wash your hands with soap and water frequently.

• Avoid touching your mouth, nose, and eyes.

• Disinfect and clean frequently touched surfaces.

• Avoid sharing personal items with others.

• Practice a healthy lifestyle to boost immunity, such as eating a healthy diet, getting regular exercise, staying well hydrated, getting adequate sleep, and managing stress.

Preventing the Spread of the Flu

If you have the flu, you can help prevent spreading it to others by:

• Covering your nose and mouth with a tissue when coughing or sneezing. If you don’t have a tissue, cough or sneeze into your elbow.

• Staying home from work or school if you have a fever or flu symptoms. Do not return to work until you have been fever-free for at least 24 hours.

Effective Flu Prevention Measures in Children

• Make sure you and all children above 6 months of age get a flu shot. Flu viruses in circulation keep changing. Flu vaccines are therefore updated every year to protect adults and children against the flu viruses that research indicates will be most likely to cause a flu illness in the upcoming flu season.

• Keep your child away from people who are sick. 

• Teach your child to cover coughs and sneezes.

• Remind them to wash their hands often and avoid touching their eyes, nose, and mouth.

• Clean surfaces and toys regularly, which can be easily contaminated with flu viruses. 

• If your child is sick, practice social distancing and keep them home. Do not send them back to school, daycare, or camp until their fever has been gone for at least 24 hours.

Flu Vaccination Information  

Facts About Flu Vaccinations  

Vaccination helps prevent you from getting sick with the flu. It also reduces the risk of serious flu illness and complications like pneumonia, hospitalization, and death. 

Reasons To Get The Influenza Vaccine  

Getting vaccinated for the flu not only protects you but also those around you, including young children, older individuals, and pregnant women who are particularly vulnerable to serious flu illness. For vulnerable individuals, the influenza vaccine can be life-saving. 

Should I Get The Flu Shot This Year? 

The CDC recommends that most healthy adults and children get the flu shot every year (with rare exceptions). The flu shot is recommended for everyone 6 months of age and older, including pregnant women. Flu vaccines are available as flu shots or nasal sprays. There are special flu vaccines for older adults that provide stronger immunity.

Each year, a new flu vaccine is developed to protect against the strains of influenza viruses predicted to be most prevalent in the upcoming flu season. In the 2024-2025 flu season, the flu vaccine will be trivalent, meaning it will protect against three strains of influenza virus. 

Optimal Influenza Vaccination Timing: When Should I Get the Flu Shot?

You should plan to get vaccinated before flu activity rises in your community. Given that flu season usually starts in October in the US, get your flu vaccination before the end of October. Remember, it takes about 2 weeks to build immunity after you get a flu shot. 

Pregnant women in their third trimester should get vaccinated as soon as the flu vaccine becomes available. This will protect both mother and baby. Pregnant women should not get the nasal spray flu vaccine. 

Public health experts recommend that children between 6 months and 8 years old who have never had flu vaccination before or had fewer than 2 doses of the flu vaccine in their lifetime should get 2 doses of the flu vaccine this year, spaced at least 4 weeks apart. If your child needs 2 doses of the flu vaccine, make sure both doses are done before the end of October when flu season begins.

Types of Influenza Vaccines

• Quadrivalent or trivalent flu vaccines are recommended for most people. These influenza vaccines protect against the three or four main groups of influenza Type A and B viruses in circulation that flu season. The updated flu vaccines for 2024-2025 will be trivalent. 

• A high-dose flu vaccine (Fluzone High-Dose) is approved for older adults (age 65 and above). It contains four times the antigen of a standard-dose vaccine.

• Adjuvanted flu vaccine (Fluad vaccine) triggers a stronger immune response and is approved for older adults (age 65 years and above).

• Egg-free, cell-based vaccines (Flucelvax) are approved for use in people who cannot take egg-based vaccines. 

• Recombinant flu vaccine (Flublok) does not contain an egg-grown flu virus. It contains three times the amount of antigen compared to standard vaccines with inactivated flu virus.

• Flu vaccination via jet injector (Afluria) is approved for people between 18 and 64 years old. People younger than 18 years or over 64 years of age can only get the flu vaccine with a needle.

• Live Attenuated Influenza Vaccine [LAIV] (FluMist) is a nasal spray vaccine. It is made using attenuated (weakened) live influenza viruses. People between 2 and 49 years of age can get this nasal spray flu vaccine. It is not recommended for pregnant people, people with a weakened immune system, and those with certain health conditions.

Read next: “4 Flu Shot Side Effects to Know.”

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High-Risk Groups and Complications  

Who Is At Higher Risk of Flu?  

People of any age, gender, and race can get the flu, but some people are at a higher risk of getting the flu and experiencing severe complications, hospitalizations, and deaths, including: 

• Older adults: People 65 years of age and older are especially vulnerable to flu viruses because their immune system is not as robust in fighting off infections. This makes it more likely for older adults to get the flu and have severe illness and worse outcomes, including hospitalization and death.

• Children: Children younger than 5 years of age, especially those under 2, are at a higher risk of getting the flu and developing serious flu complications. Young children may not have been exposed to flu viruses before and are at high risk of catching the flu virus when they go to community settings such as daycare for the first time. Children with chronic health conditions and weakened immunity are at particularly high risk. 

• Pregnant people: Pregnancy can affect the immune system, making it harder for the body to fight off infections. 

• People with chronic health conditions: People with conditions like chronic kidney disease, diabetes, lung disease, and heart disease are at a higher risk of flu-related complications. 

• People living in group settings: Flu spreads quickly in communal living spaces like schools and nursing homes. These places also house vulnerable populations at high risk of flu, such as children and older adults with chronic health conditions. 

• People of certain races and ethnicities: Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Blacks, and Latinos, may be at a higher risk of needing to be hospitalized for influenza compared to non-Hispanic Whites.

Groups At High Risk of Flu-Related Complications 

According to the CDC, about 9 out of 10 flu-related deaths occur in older adults (age 65 plus). People who are at high risk of flu-related complications include:

• Older adults, age 65 and above.

• Children younger than 5 years of age.

• Residents of long-term health care facilities like nursing homes.

• Pregnant people.

Health Complications of Influenza

The flu, or influenza, can cause a number of health complications, including: 

• Sinus infections

• Ear infections

• Pneumonia

• Inflammation of the heart (myocarditis), brain (encephalitis), or muscles (myositis or rhabdomyolysis)

• Sepsis

• Worsening of chronic medical conditions like asthma, diabetes, congestive heart failure, and chronic kidney disease

• Multiple organ failure, including respiratory failure and kidney failure

• Death

When To See a Doctor

Most people with a mild flu virus can recover at home with symptomatic relief obtained from over-the-counter fever reducers, cough and cold products, and flu remedies. However, severe flu symptoms can cause serious health complications. See your healthcare professional or go to the emergency room if you have:

• Shortness of breath or trouble breathing

• Chest pain, chest pressure, or chest tightness

• Severe weakness

• Dizziness

• Excessive sleepiness

• Confusion

• Seizures

Current Flu Season Updates  

Updates For The 2024–2025 Flu Season  

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends: 

• Everyone above the age of 6 months (with rare exceptions) should receive an updated 2024-2025 flu vaccine. 

• Plan on getting your annual influenza vaccination as soon as the 2024-2025 influenza vaccines become available.

• September 2024 and October 2024 are the best times for most people to get vaccinated. 

• Specific groups may need to get their flu vaccination earlier (in July and August), such as pregnant people and children who need two doses of the flu vaccine.

Find out the recommended vaccine schedule for children.

Seasonal Influenza Activity Report  

The updated 2024-2025 flu vaccines will all be trivalent. They will protect against H1N1, H3N2 and B/Victoria lineage flu viruses. The 2024-2025 flu season vaccine has been updated to include a new influenza A virus (H3N2) compared to last year.