Brutal Flu Season And Spiking Cases Of The Common Cold Wallop CA

CALIFORNIA — As California finally begins to emerge from a particularly nasty flu season, cases of the common cold are spiking across the Golden State.

California got hit with a cold-flu-cold combo punch this year. According to data released by the California Department of Public Health, cold season spiked early this year from September through December when cases of the flu took off and continued to climb through the end of January. Just as cases of influenza have begun to fall, the common cold (rhinovirus) is spiking again with no sign of slowing down.

'A bad year for influenza'

As California shakes off the chill of winter, a particularly dangerous flu season is proving stubborn, showing few signs of slowing down despite the arrival of sunnier days.

Influenza took a troubling front seat this season, according to Dr. John Swartzberg, an infectious disease specialist at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health.

“This has been a bad year for influenza. It’s been one of the three or four worst winter seasons we’ve had with influenza since the new century,” Swartzberg said in an interview with Patch. “Not just in terms of deaths, but in terms of hospitalizations, in terms of ER visits.”

Since October, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that there have been at least 37 million infections and between 19 to 34 million hospital visits for influenza.

Meanwhile, Swartzberg estimates the country is on track to see about 30,000 flu-related deaths this season, noting that a “good” influenza season would typically see between 10,000 to 15,000 deaths.

According to the California Department of Public Health, there have been 1,409 flu deaths in the state this flu season as of March 15.

Despite its intensity, the flu season appears to be winding down.

“We’re now three weeks, going into a fourth week, probably, of continuous declines in the number of cases of influenza here in California and nationally,” Swartzberg said. While the flu season officially ends in late April, he noted that it usually begins tapering off in March. “That’s what we’re seeing,” he said.

COVID And RSV Deaths Decline

On the brighter side, COVID-related deaths are markedly lower this year than in previous winters, even as the virus arrives at its fifth anniversary.

"Earlier this month, we were seeing maybe six to 800 deaths a week from COVID. Tragic, but compared to the previous year — the same week was 1,800 or so deaths per week. And if you compare it to 2021 or 2022, we’re talking about 20,000 to 25,000 deaths a week,” he said.

According to the California Department of Public Health, there have been 2,524 COVID-19 deaths in the state this season as of March 15.

The overall trajectory of COVID-19 may be stabilizing, but it hasn’t yet fallen into a predictable seasonal pattern like the flu or RSV, Swartzberg said.

“COVID also occurs in the spring and summer and the fall… so it hasn’t achieved what we call epic seasonality yet,” Swartzberg said.

In contrast, RSV — a respiratory virus especially dangerous to infants and older adults — was relatively well-controlled this season.

According to the California Department of Public Health, there have been 184 RSV deaths in the state this flu season, as of March 15. Among those, 152 were people 64 years old and older, and seven were under 5 years old.

“It was not a big problem with RSV compared to previous years,” he said, attributing the improvement to newer vaccines and monoclonal antibody treatments for vulnerable groups.

While COVID-19 vaccines are still widely available, Swartzberg emphasized the importance of taking advantage of all available vaccinations, especially for those most at risk.

“Everybody 6 months of age and older is a candidate for the influenza vaccine… and everybody is also a candidate for the COVID vaccine. People should avail themselves of that, especially those at higher risk.”

He also noted the efficacy of COVID-era precautions in reducing the spread of other respiratory illnesses.

“During the height of the COVID pandemic, we saw very little RSV and influenza… that’s not because people were getting vaccinated more… it’s because precautions against COVID work, and they work not just against COVID, but they work against other respiratory viruses.”

That means habits like masking indoors, choosing outdoor dining and isolating when symptomatic still matter, he said.

“Try to isolate yourself from the rest of the family during the acute illness, which is typically for all of these three to five days,” Swartzberg advised. “When they leave that room, they should have an N95 mask on to prevent infecting other people.”

Testing remains an issue, however. “There’s not been a lot of testing for RSV because there’s not a widely available home test… there is, of course, a widely available test for COVID, and people are using that. Unfortunately, the government’s not supplying them for free anymore,” he noted.

Ultimately, Swartzberg expressed cautious optimism about the trajectory of this year’s respiratory illness season.

“After five years of dealing with COVID, I’m reluctant to get too excited, because I don’t know what’s around the corner. But I must say that I was so pleased with how we got through this winter — so few deaths.”

Common Cold Cases Climb

According to the state health department, lab-confirmed cases of rhinovirus and enterovirus, better known as the common cold and stomach bug, spiked in the fall and have begun climbing again.

Though far less deadly than COVID or the flu, the common cold causes upper respiratory tract infections, and enterovirus can cause respiratory tract infections and gastrointestinal issues. The percentage of lab specimens testing positive for these viruses has nearly doubled since January, accounting for about 20 percent of test results reported to the state health department.

With the common cold spiking all autumn and again in the spring, Golden State residents are enduring a brutally long cold and flu season with no end yet in sight.

Patch editor Paige Austin contributed to this report.