The current flu season has hit Central Florida hard, with increased numbers of confirmed cases and fewer residents vaccinated against the disease.
Though the state doesn’t keep track of individual cases, medical facilities across Florida are reporting an active flu season.
“I’m seeing it daily versus maybe a case here or there last season,” said Dr. Ariel Mejia, an internal medicine specialist and medical director at the UCF Health Faculty Physician Practice.
Orlando Health reported about 4,500 confirmed flu cases across all of its facilities in December — roughly a 20% increase compared to a year ago.
Nationwide, the number of flu cases has begun to wane in the last two weeks, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, but Florida is still one of 36 states with “high activity.”
Orange and Seminole counties have both reported outbreaks within the last three weeks, according to the Florida Department of Health.
The CDC estimates this flu season, which started in the fall, so far has led to 18 million ill people across the country, 230,000 hospitalizations and 9,300 deaths.
What’s causing it?
Tourism, cold weather, a stronger strain of the virus and lower vaccination rates are behind the rise in cases, Orlando experts said.
Florida’s vaccination rate has dipped in recent years. During the 2024-25 flu season, for example, about 37% of children between the ages of six months and 17 received the flu vaccine, compared to 46% in the 2023-24 season, according to the CDC.
And in 2024, 33.5% of Florida adults reported getting a flu vaccine, ranking the Sunshine State 47th out of the 50 states, according to America’s Health Rankings. The national vaccine average that year was 41.3% for adults.
Dr. Tim Hendrix, chief medical officer at AdventHealth Centra Care, said the lower rates help explain the increased numbers of flu cases.
AdventHealth Centra Care facilities have seen about 1,500 flu cases per week this year, compared to last year’s average of 1,200, Hendrix said.
“The strain that we’re seeing this season is heavy, and we also have a heavy population with a lot of travel right now,” said Dr. Daniel Egan, an Orlando Health infectious disease physician. “So you’re getting hit from two directions at once,” he said.
“The problem with the flu virus is that it will mutate bit by bit over time, and so sometimes you’ll have a strain that’s more virulent than the one from before,” Egan added.
And that’s the case with Subclade K, a mutated strain of the flu, which was identified after the current flu vaccine’s formulation. This strain, also known as H3N2, makes up for most of the reported cases, according to the CDC.
Typically, doctors evaluate which flu strains are circulating in the world before flu season and use the data to make a vaccine. Because subclade K was found later in the season, the shot is less effective at fighting it off, the experts said, though they still recommend residents get it, as does the state’s department of health.
What can you do?
Protection during flu season comes down to the basics: hand washing, getting vaccinated, and social distancing.
“I tell people ‘Look, take care of your immune system and your immune system will help protect you during this year, but the best thing to protect you, above and beyond a healthy lifestyle, is the vaccine,’” Hendrix said.
Though the vaccine is less effective against the K strain, doctors say getting vaccinated is the best form of prevention.
HCA Florida Osceola Hospital posted on Facebook last week that flu cases were increasing in Florida. “It’s not too late to get a flu shot,” its post advised.
Though the current flu vaccine may provide less protection against the K strain, it will also help against other strains of the virus that are now spreading, Mejia said.
If you get the flu, Mejia recommended using masks and practicing social distancing.
“It becomes a community’s problem when no particular individual is taking care of themselves,” Mejia said.
Doctors recommend seeking additional medical help if the symptoms –– which may include a fever, dizziness, and a cough –– worsen or if you experience extreme shortness of breath.
Those with risk factors and preexisting conditions, such as asthma, diabetes, and heart disease, should also prioritize getting tested and vaccinated, they said.
