Nearly 50 people have died across the US in recent days from flu as cases spike nationwide

Nearly 50 people have died from the flu in the last week as cases increase and experts warn that this year’s illness season has started early.

In Connecticut, six people have died from the flu since late September, state health officials said this week. The unidentified individuals were all over the age of 55, the state’s health department reported.

“These deaths are a sobering reminder that flu can be serious, especially for older adults, and that respiratory virus season is already here,” the state’s health commissioner Dr. Manisha Juthani said in a statement.

The state’s first flu death, which occurred in September, happened a month earlier than during the 2025 flu season. That pattern falls in line with a national trend.

Levels of flu – with roughly 5,600 cases this season – have been rising more than two months earlier than is typical. Peak flu season typically occurs from December to February. So far, there have been 47 flu-related deaths confirmed across the country in the past week, but many more are expected.

Flu results in between 9.4 million and 51 million illnesses a year and roughly 6,300 and 52,000 deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

While the CDC does not yet show child flu deaths on its tracker, two such deaths have been reported in San Diego and one was reported in Colorado, where University of California Health reports the number of positive tests is six times higher than the same time last year.

Federal data shows a singular strain of flu makes up the majority of cases. H1N1, which was the virus behind the 2009 swine flu pandemic, made up the majority of cases reported during the latest week for data ending on October 10.

This year’s flu vaccine targets H1N1, as well as the B/Victoria virus and subclade K, a variant of H3N2 influenza that also spread last year.

Most seasonal cases of flu are flu A, including H3N2 and H1N1, and early evidence suggests this year’s shot is a good match against the H3N2 variant, Scott Hensley, a professor of microbiology at the University of Pennsylvania, told NBC News earlier this month.

While the H1N1 variant has some new mutations allowing it to escape built up protection within communities, “data suggest this year’s influenza vaccine can recognize this variant, so the immune escape is only partial, or rather incomplete,” Andrew Pekosz, a professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, explained on Thursday.

“Right now, there is no cause for concern, but this should be viewed as a good last call to get your influenza vaccination for this year because vaccines work best when taken before the influenza season starts,” he instructed.

Even if protection isn’t perfect, the vaccine still helps to prevent severe illness and death.

But there is a lag between when you get the shot and its efficacy. So, the sooner people get the shot the better – espeicially before the holidays and colder temperatures create a higher-risk for indoor spread.

“It takes about two weeks for the body to build protection, and getting vaccinated now will help provide protection for the holiday season when people gather indoors,” Juthani said.

Though flu season generally runs from September or October and extends into April or May, it’s never too late to get a flu shot.