Health

(NEW YORK) — Flu activity is increasing across the U.S. amid holiday travel and gatherings, according to the latest data the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC estimates there have been at least 4.6 million illnesses, 49,000 hospitalizations and 1,900 deaths from flu this season so far, according to data updated as of Dec. 19, and experts expect these numbers will continue to rise.

Public health experts previously told ABC News that many of this season’s cases are linked to a new flu strain called subclade K — a variant of the H3N2 virus, which is itself a subtype of influenza A — that has been circulating since the summer in other countries. 

Of the 163 samples of H3N2 viruses collected since Sept. 28 and genetically characterized, 89% were subclade K, according to the CDC. 

Additionally, three pediatric flu deaths have been reported so far this season, according to an ABC News tally.

Last season, the U.S. saw 288 children die from flu, which is the same number of children who died during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic. About 90% of kids who died from flu last year were not vaccinated, a CDC study published earlier this year found.

Meanwhile, New York state is reporting the highest number of flu cases it has ever recorded in a single week. 

“The emergency room has been busy, and we’ve been following these numbers,” Dr. Darien Sutton, a board-certified emergency medical physician and ABC News medical correspondent, told “Good Morning America” on Monday. “Just a note, national numbers typically lag during the holiday, but state health department numbers are giving us insight to just how severe this flu season is.”

A total of 71,123 flu cases were reported for the week ending Dec. 20, according to the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH). This marks the highest number of flu cases in a single week since it became mandatory for states to report in 2004. 

This is also 38% higher compared to the previous week which saw 51,365 infections reported, bringing the total flu cases reported in the state to 189,312.

Hospitalizations climbed by 63% in the most recent week, increasing from 2,251 to 3,666 weekly admissions, according to data from NYSDOH.

Sutton said it’s important to understand that flu is present and to take steps to reduce risk, including masking, washing hands with soap and water and getting the flu vaccine.

Currently, the CDC recommends that everyone aged 6 months and older, with rare exceptions, get a flu vaccine.  

The federal health agency states on its website that getting an annual flu shot prevents millions of illnesses and flu-related doctors’ visits every year and is especially important for those at higher risk of serious complications.

“The flu is so much more than a simple cold. I am treating it in the emergency room,” Sutton said. “Understand that people are coming in feeling like they are so sick that it has to be something else than the flu.”

Sutton noted that he is seeing more people in the emergency room and more people being hospitalized but that the disease itself is not more severe, adding “it’s not like a super flu.”

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(NEW YORK) — Flu activity is increasing across the country, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

New York City is seeing some of the highest levels of flu-like activity across the country. States including Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Texas are seeing “moderate” activity of respiratory illnesses. All other states are seeing low or very low levels.

The CDC estimates that there have been at least 4.6 million illnesses, 49,000 hospitalizations, and 1,900 deaths from flu this season so far.

The bulk of flu illnesses so far are being linked to the new variant known as subclade K, according to hundreds of samples sent to the CDC. Of just over 900 flu samples, roughly 90% were A(H3N2). Of those that had further genetic testing, nearly 90% belonged to subclade K.

The mutations seen in the new variant result in a mismatch with this season’s flu vaccine composition, the CDC notes. Experts believe that the flu vaccine will still help reduce the risk of severe illness, including hospitalization and death.

Two pediatric flu deaths were reported this week, bringing the total to three for this season. Last season had a record tying 288 die from flu – the same number during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic. It’s the highest levels seen since 2004, which is when flu child deaths became mandatory for states to report to CDC.

About 90% of kids that died from flu last season were not vaccinated, a CDC study found. Flu vaccinations among kids have dropped 10% points lower than pre-pandemic with about 40% of kids getting the shot this season.

About 140 million doses of the flu vaccine have been distributed nationally so far this season, compared to 128 million last season.

The CDC recommends that everyone over the age of 6 months get their annual flu shot. Experts say it is not too late to get vaccinated.

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(WASHINGTON) — The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced on Thursday a series of proposed actions to limit access to gender-affirming care for minors.

It comes after HHS released a final version of its report on pediatric gender-affirming care last month, claiming it found “medical dangers posed to children,” which received pushback from medical groups.

Speaking at press event, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy said doctors providing gender-affirming care for minors are endangering lives and lambasted medical organizations that have supported such care for transgender youth.

“They betrayed their Hippocratic Oath to do no harm,” Kennedy said. “So-called ‘gender affirming care’ has inflicted lasting physical and psychological damage on vulnerable young people. This is not medicine. It is malpractice. We’re done with junk science, driven by ideological pursuits, not the well-being of children.”

Kennedy also signed a declaration finding that gender-affirming surgeries do not meet professional recognized standards of health care, with an HHS press release stating that doctors who perform these procedures would be deemed “out of compliance with those standards.” 

The proposed regulations include actions from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Office of Civil Rights (OCR).

CMS will issue a proposal barring hospitals from participating in Medicare and Medicaid programs if they provide gender-affirming to children under age 18.

Another CMS proposal will prohibit federal Medicaid funding for hospitals providing gender-affirming care on children under age 18 and funding from the federal Children’s Health Insurance Program.

Additionally, the FDA is issuing warning letters to 12 manufacturers and retailers for “illegal marketing” of breast binders, a compression garment worn to flatten the appearance of breasts, to children with gender dysphoria.

The agency said the letters will note that the companies are facing significant regulatory violations and how to take corrective action.

FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary claimed that long-term use of breast binders among children has been linked to pain and compromised lung function. Physicians say chest binding is generally considered safe when practiced with a physician’s guidance.

“Pushing transgender ideology in children is predatory. It’s wrong, and it needs to stop,” Makary said at Thursday’s press event.

The top pediatrician group in the nation reacted to Kennedy’s declaration and the proposed actions, saying they set a “dangerous precedent.”

“Unprecedented actions and harmful rhetoric [took] place today,” the American Academy of Pediatrics said in response to the HHS announcement. They went further, saying that the proposed rules were a “baseless intrusion in the patient-physician relationship.”

Lastly, the HHS announced the OCR will move to reverse a Biden-era rule that included gender dysphoria within the definition of a disability.

November’s HHS report alleged that gender-affirming care — including puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and gender-affirming surgeries — caused significant, long-term damage. 

An early version of the report, published in May, referred to itself as a “comprehensive review” of transgender care for children and teens, calling for a broader use of psychotherapy for young people with gender dysphoria rather than gender-affirming medical interventions.

The HHS referred to the final version of the report as “peer-reviewed,” but some of those who reviewed the contents are researchers who have spoken against gender affirming care.

Some major medical groups pushed back, stating that psychotherapy first is the standard approach in gender-affirming care and that additional care, such as hormonal therapies, only occurs after in-depth evaluations between patients and doctors.

“Everyone in this country should have access to the care they need to stay healthy, including transgender and nonbinary young people,” Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen, senior vice president of public engagement campaigns at The Trevor Project, a nonprofit focusing on suicide prevention efforts among LGBTQ+ youth, said in a statement.

“Personal medical decisions ought to be made between patients, their doctors, and their families — not through a one-size-fits-all mandate from the federal government,” the statement continued. “The multitude of efforts we are seeing from federal legislators to strip transgender and nonbinary youth of the health care they need is deeply troubling.”

In January, Trump signed an executive order stating the U.S. would not “fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support” gender transition of those under age 19 and would “rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures.”

Transgender adults and youth may experience extreme psychological distress due to a mismatch in their gender presentation and identity, medical groups have said. They experience significantly higher rates of suicide than the general population, but some studies suggest gender-affirming care eases those feelings of distress.

While some individuals and groups have called for a slower approach to gender-affirming care for minors, other pediatric gender care experts and advocates have said ending such care can have a harmful effect on patients’ mental health and well-being.

ABC News’ Youri Benadjaoud contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — Concerns about the flu spreading in the U.S. are growing as the U.K. continues to see a spike in cases among children and young adults.

The increased number of cases in the U.K., could be a predictor for the flu season in the U.S., according to ABC News chief medical correspondent Dr. Tara Narula.

“We know that England or other places can be a marker for what is going to happen here, because their flu season happens a few weeks earlier than ours,” Narula said on “Good Morning America” Monday, adding, “We have low numbers of cases so far but they are increasing.”

Some hospitals are starting to implement flu season visitor restrictions, including the Detroit Medical Center and Children’s Hospital of Michigan, which are allowing, as of Monday, up to two visitors per patient and only those 13 years of age and older are permitted on inpatient hospital floors or in observation units.

According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, flu activity in the U.S. is up at least 7% in the last week, and so far, there have been nearly 2 million illnesses, 19,000 hospitalizations, and 730 deaths from the flu.

Last year, the U.S. saw an extremely severe flu season, with 560,000 hospitalizations and approximately 38,000 deaths from the flu, the CDC reported in September.

Meanwhile, in the U.K., where flu season started earlier than usual this year and has yet to peak, doctors are seeing increasing flu activity that’s currently at “medium” level with hospitalizations for the flu around 7.79 per 100,000, according to UK Health Security Agency data.

Some hospitals, such as the Sherwood Forest Hospitals in Nottinghamshire, have also reintroduced face mask policies in some hospital areas in light of the uptick in flu cases.

What flu variant is circulating?

The predominant flu strain that is currently circulating the most in the U.S. is the subclade K variant.

“The strain that is circulating most … subclade K, which is a variant of H3N2, seems to have a little bit more severe symptoms and maybe more severely affects the elderly and children,” Narula said Monday.

What are the symptoms of the flu?

Flu symptoms can vary from mild to severe intensity, and according to the CDC, they can come on suddenly.

Symptoms can include as fever, chills, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body or muscle aches, headaches, fatigue, and vomiting or diarrhea, two symptoms which tend to be more common in children rather than adults.

People who are at more at risk of developing complications from the flu, according to the CDC, include older adults over 65, children younger than 2, and people with underlying conditions such as asthma and chronic lung disease or heart disease. Complications from the flu may vary, but they may include pneumonia, sinusitis, ear infections, and kidney and respiratory failure.

How to protect against the flu

Although the subclade K flu variant is not a perfect match for this year’s flu vaccine, doctors and the CDC still recommend everyone over the age of 6 months to receive one as a protective measure.

“When they look at studies abroad in England, they have found that the vaccine lowers the risk of hospitalizations for children by about 70% to 75%, which is really good, and adults by about 30% to 40%,” Narula said.

“Everyone thinks [the flu is] not that serious, it’s just a cold, but no, it can really cause complications and death,” Narula added.

Emergency physician Dr. Stephanie Widmer also recommended practicing regular hygienic habits to stay healthy.

“On top of getting the vaccine, washing your hands often, covering your coughs and sneezes, avoid[ing] touching your face and staying home if you’re feeling sick are all things [to do],” Widmer said on “ABC News Live.”

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(ATLANTA) — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory committee voted 8-3 on Friday to remove the universal recommendation for the hepatitis B vaccine at birth.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted to make vaccine recommendations based on the mother’s testing status.

The recommendations state that if a mother tests negative for hepatitis B, parents should decide, with the guidance of their health care provider, whether the shot is right for their newborn — referred to as “individual-based decision-making,” according to a document with the ACIP voting language.

The vote includes that newborns who do not receive the hepatitis B birth dose get an initial dose no earlier than 2 months old.

The voting language document emphasized there is no change to the recommendation that infants born to women who test positive or have unknown status to be vaccinated.

The language document also included a footnote that parents and health care providers should consider whether the newborn faces risks, such as a hepatitis B-positive household member or frequent contact with people who have emigrated from areas where hepatitis B is common. 

In a second vote, the ACIP voted 6-4, with one abstention, that parents of older children should talk to their doctor about hepatitis B antibody testing before considering subsequent hepatitis B vaccination.

The testing would determine whether an antibody threshold was achieved and should be covered by insurance.

The CDC acting director, Health and Human Services Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill, is expected to sign off on the change.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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(NEW YORK) — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory committee is set to meet Thursday and Friday to discuss the childhood vaccine schedule, adjuvants and contaminants, and the hepatitis B vaccine.

It marks the third meeting this year of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) since Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired all 17 members, replacing them with his own hand-selected picks, many of whom have expressed vaccine-skeptic views.

This is also the first meeting since the chair of the ACIP, Martin Kulldorff — a former Harvard Medical School professor — accepted a permanent role at HHS. Pediatric cardiologist and former U.S. Air Force flight surgeon Dr. Kirk Milhoan will chair the committee during the upcoming meeting.

Milhoan is a fellow with the Independent Medical Alliance, a group that has advocated for unproven treatments for COVID-19, including hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin.

A draft agenda posted online indicates the ACIP will discuss and vote on recommendations around the hepatitis B vaccine on day one and discuss the childhood vaccine schedule on day two.

“I think every single thing on that agenda is concerning,” Dr. Richard Besser, resident and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and acting director of the CDC during the administration of former President Barack Obama, told ABC News. “We have an administration [that] seems hellbent on undermining people’s trust in vaccination.”

Hepatitis B vaccine

Since the new ACIP members were installed, the committee has recommended against flu vaccines containing the preservative thimerosal — despite public health experts saying there is no evidence that low doses of thimerosal in vaccines cause harm — and has narrowed existing recommendations for the combined MMRV shot that protects against measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox.

The first day of the meeting will include presentations and discussions about the hepatitis B vaccine.

The agenda also lists a scheduled vote and, although it’s not clear what will be voted on, experts believe the universal hepatitis B vaccine dose given at birth will be at issue.

The CDC currently recommends that the first dose of the three-dose hepatitis B vaccine be given to babies within 24 hours of birth. Doctors have said the universal birth dose recommendation has virtually eliminated hepatitis B among babies in the U.S.

However, earlier this year, Kulldorff questioned whether it was “wise” to administer shots “to every newborn before leaving the hospital.” Separately, Kennedy has falsely linked the hepatitis B vaccine to autism.

Some experts believe the panel will vote to either delay or remove the decades-long recommendation that newborns be vaccinated against hepatitis B.

“I am concerned that the committee is going to attempt to minimize the harm resulting from any changes to this long-standing recommendation,” Dr. Fiona Havers, a former CDC official who worked on vaccine policy and led the CDC’s tracking of hospitalizations from COVID-19 and RSV, told ABC News.

“They’re going to say that there’s no need to vaccinate babies at birth because you can screen mothers and only vaccinate babies born to patients who test positive or whose status is unknown,” she continued.

Havers said only vaccinating high-risk babies was the policy in the U.S. before the universal birth dose was implemented, but it was changed after doctors saw that babies and children continued to be infected with hepatitis B.

Additionally, babies infected with hepatitis B are at risk for chronic infection as well as liver disease, liver failure and even liver cancer.

“Babies can be infected not only by their mother if she has hepatitis B, but also by caregivers or others in the community who may not know that they have hepatitis B and any change to the routine recommendation means that we will see an increase in hepatitis B infections in infants and children,” Havers said.

She added, “Any hepatitis B infections that occur because a child wasn’t vaccinated at birth are an avoidable tragedy. We will start seeing more children living with a lifelong incurable infection that can lead to death from cirrhosis or liver cancer.”

Childhood immunization schedule

Besser said he is particularly concerned about the second day, which includes a discussion about the childhood immunization schedule.

The draft agenda is scant on details aside from topics including CDC vaccine risk monitoring evaluation discussion, vaccine schedule history, vaccine schedule considerations and a discussion of the childhood/adolescent immunization schedule

Earlier this year, the ACIP formed two new work groups, one focusing on the cumulative effects of children and adolescents receiving all recommended vaccines on the schedule and another reviewing vaccines that haven’t been examined for more than seven years.

Kennedy has suggested that children receive too many vaccine doses “to be fully compliant” and that the number of doses children receive has increased from three doses during his childhood to 92 doses today.

Doctors previously told ABC News that children actually receive about 30 vaccine doses and that the number of available, recommended immunizations has grown since the first vaccines were recommended in the late 1940s, based on evolving science and manufacturing capacity.

Besser said he has not heard safety concerns about the schedule from vaccine experts, pediatricians, those who administer vaccines or patient advocacy groups.

“There had not been concerns raised around the immunization schedule and forming a group that is going to look at [the schedule] wholesale when the going-in presumption is that it’s not safe really, really worries me,” Besser said.

The panel will also discuss vaccine “adjuvants and contaminants,” according to the draft agenda.

In a 2023 interview on The Joe Rogan Experience, Kennedy claimed aluminum adjuvants are neurotoxins and are associated with allergies, including food allergies.

The CDC says adjuvants are ingredients used in some vaccines to help boost the immune response and have been used safely in vaccines for more than 70 years.

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(NEW YORK) — One in four Americans covered by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) are considering going without health insurance if their monthly premiums double next year, a new KFF poll published Thursday finds.

Open enrollment for the ACA began last month, and many Americans experienced sticker shock upon receiving their annual notices and discovering their 2026 premiums would be increasing.

At the same time, enhanced premium tax credits under the ACA, which help lower the cost of monthly premiums for about 22 million Americans, are set to expire at the end of the year, and it’s unclear if Congress will take action to extend them.

The survey, which included a nationally representative sample of 1,350 U.S. adults between ages 18 and 64 and was conducted during early to mid-November, found that many Americans are reconsidering coverage on the ACA marketplaces.

“What we’re really interested in is understanding how marketplace enrollees are thinking about their decisions around coverage in 2026 … and so we wanted to actually hear from the people that were being directly impacted by this,” Ashley Kirzinger, director of survey methodology at KFF, told ABC News.

The survey found that one in three people covered under the ACA said they would “very likely” shop for a cheaper plan if their premium payments doubled, or if they currently don’t pay a premium and would have to pay $50 a month.

Kirzinger said the finding that one in four Americans would “very likely” forego insurance if faced with the same scenario is concerning.

“One of the things that the Affordable Care Act did was decrease our uninsurance rate in this country,” she said. “And so this could have major implications and major consequences as more people become uninsured for the first time in a decade.”

“And so, it’s not that they want to go without coverage. It’s that that may be the only option available to them,” Kirzinger added.

‘We have to judge the value of our health’

One of the survey respondents, Jon, 38, from Florida, who withheld his last name due to privacy reasons, said his family needs a health insurance plan on the marketplace that has good coverage because his wife has an autoimmune disorder.

The monthly premium — which covers Jon, his wife and their two children — is currently $2,000 per month and is going up to $2,500 per month next year.

“Having health insurance is important,” he told ABC News. “We’re one accident from not being financially okay, one accident away from not being able to cover the cost of food, daily expenses.”

Jon said that his family is considering a plan next year that would lower the cost of the monthly premium but would raise their copay for doctor’s visits and emergency room visits

“Now we have to judge what the value of our health and nobody should have to judge the value of that,” he said.

The survey also found that 58% of enrollees, or six in 10 Americans, say they could not afford an annual increase of just $300 per year without significantly disrupting their household finances.

An additional 20% said they would not be able to afford a $1,000 per year increase without disrupting their finances.

If total health care costs — including premiums, deductibles and other expenses increase by $1,000 next year, about 67% of marketplace enrollees said they would likely cut down on daily household needs and 41% said they would likely skip or delay other bills, according to the survey.

‘Our most difficult monthly cost’

More than half of ACA policyholders, or 54%, said they expect the cost of their health insurance coverage next year to “increase a lot more than usual,” with one in four saying it will “increase a little more than usual,” the survey found.

Another survey respondent, Venus, 27, from Kentucky, who withheld her last name due to privacy reasons, told ABC News it’s currently difficult to pay for the cost of her and her husband’s monthly health insurance premiums.

“Mainly because we only have one income and we have to pay for two health insurances for people with two different chronic illnesses,” she said. “It’s our most difficult monthly cost to pay.”

Venus explained that because they need an insurance plan with a higher deductible, their premium is lower, but out-of-pocket costs are higher.

She and her husband pay about $200 each month, and their monthly premium is expected to increase $90, which will eat into their monthly budget.

If premiums doubled, she said she and her husband would have to consider going without insurance.

“I don’t even have the words for that,” she said, “Paying for insulin out-of-pocket, I just couldn’t imagine.”

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(NEW YORK) — Children who have smartphones by age 12 are at higher risk of lack of sleep, obesity and depression, according to a new study published Monday in the journal Pediatrics.

What’s more, researchers found that the earlier a child received a smartphone, the greater their risk of developing these conditions.

Dr. Ran Barzilay, lead author of the study and a child and adolescent psychiatrist at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, told ABC News that many experts suggest parents should postpone the age at which children receive their first smartphone.

Barzilay said he and his colleagues wanted to examine whether not delaying smartphone use by children would lead to negative health outcomes. He also had a personal motivation behind the study.

“I have a nine-year-old who wants a phone, and I think [whether to get them a smartphone] is a question that is relevant for every parent of a kid going into adolescence, even before adolescence,” said Barzilay, who’s also an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

The study team – comprised of researchers from the University of Pennsylvania; University of California, Berkeley; and Columbia University – looked at data from more than 10,500 participants in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study, which is an ongoing study assessing brain development in children throughout adolescence.

Researchers analyzed data on children between ages 9 and 16, collected from 2016 to 2022, to test how smartphone ownership and the age at which a child or teen received their first smartphone affected their health outcomes.

The team found that compared to 12-year-olds who didn’t own a smartphone, those who did had a 1.3 times higher risk of depression, a 1.4 times higher risk of obesity, and a 1.6 times higher risk of insufficient sleep.

Additionally, the earlier the age at which a child received a smartphone, the greater the risk of developing the problems increased – by about 10% for each year earlier in age, starting as young as age 4 – compared to kids who received a device later or not at all.

The study also found that children aged 13 who did not have a smartphone at age 12 but acquired one within the last year also had worse mental health outcomes and poor sleep. This held true even when the researchers controlled for those factors.

“This was quite surprising, I must say,” Barzilay said. “I mean, we designed the study with a question in mind to try and test it, but to find it was quite compelling.”

Barzilay said that while the study only proves association, not causation, it adds to a growing body of evidence linking smartphone use among children to adverse health outcomes.

In a longitudinal review of studies by the American Psychological Association, the emphasis is not only to cut down on screentime – which is linked to socioemotional problems in children – but also to improve the quality and social interactions through screentime.

The team behind the new study, published in Pediatric,s recommended that parents, children and pediatricians have a thoughtful discussion to determine whether children are ready for a phone.

Barzilay said the study results aren’t meant to put blame on parents who gave their kids smartphones at age 12 or younger, noting that his older two children received smartphones prior to age 12.

He added that smartphones do have some benefits, such as increasing connectivity and access to information. However, Barzilay said parents can implement some rules to limit the potential harm smartphone use can cause. Those rules could include not allowing kids to use them in their bedroom at night, and making sure that their children participate in activities that do not require phone use.

As for Barzilay’s nine-year-old who wants a phone, he said they’re “not getting a phone anytime soon. Clear decision.”

 

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(WASHINGTON) — Cases of norovirus are rising across the United States, doubling over the last few months, according to updated data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Nearly 14% of tests came back positive for norovirus during the most recent week ending Nov. 15, compared to roughly 7% about three months ago.

Test positivity is a metric used to identify how many people are confirmed to have norovirus after an illness is suspected.

Health experts have said that, like other measurements, test positivity is imperfect as it depends on the number of tests that are ordered, which can vary.

Last December saw a record-breaking rate of norovirus cases in the U.S. with nearly 25% of tests coming back positive. Cases had been trending down since then but have begun to rise in recent weeks, CDC data shows.

Electronic health records data from Epic Research show that Alabama, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas and Wyoming are some of the states currently experiencing the highest number of norovirus cases. Emergency department visits have been on the rise since July, Epic Research data shows. 

Norovirus is a highly contagious virus that is the most common cause of viral gastroenteritis, which is an inflammation of the inside lining of the gastrointestinal tract.

Although it’s often referred to as the “stomach bug” or “stomach flu,” norovirus illness is not related to influenza.

Norovirus is the leading cause of foodborne illness in the U.S., causing 58% of foodborne illnesses each year, and responsible for about 2,5000 outbreaks annually, according to the CDC.

The most common symptoms are nausea, vomiting, stomach pain and diarrhea. Patients, however, can also experience fever, headaches and body aches.

Typically, an infected person will develop symptoms between 12 to 48 hours after being infected. However, norovirus typically resolves quickly and, in most healthy adults, lasts one to three days, according to the CDC.

Health experts say the best way to prevent getting norovirus is to wash hands with warm soap and water for 20 seconds. Hand sanitizer alone does not work well against norovirus.

The CDC says people should wash their hands after using the toilet or changing diapers as well as when eating, preparing or handling food.

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