“I think it’s around 10,000 in the US.”
How long is the regular flu season, just wondering
When Does Flu Season Officially Start?
There is no fixed date for the start of flu season. Instead, flu season is characteristically marked by the winter months coming in and the weather cooling down.
Influenza may circulate lightly through populations throughout the entire year, causing a few infections, but winter weather triggers the flu to be exponentially more active.
Although the medical field has not yet identified exactly why flu viruses are more active in the winter, cold weather is universally believed to be a primary catalyst for the start of flu season.
Once there is a significant spike in the number of influenza infections occurring throughout the population, the CDC officially declares that flu season has begun.
As this season progresses, the CDC constantly tracks, collects, and analyzes data related to flu infections. This allows it to identify trends in when and where the flu virus is being spread. Based on these trends, the CDC can forecast when the virus is at its peak level of infectiousness and inform at-risk community members to take extra precautions.
Flu season typically falls sometime between the start of fall and the end of spring. For the past three decades, flu activity has peaked at some point between the months of October and February but always tapers off by April.
Peak Months of Flu Activity
Here is a breakdown of the “peak months of flu activity” over a 34-year period between 1982 and 2016:
February was the peak month for flu activity in 14 of the 34 flu seasons, making it the most common month for peak flu activity.
December followed February, with the highest flu activity in seven of the 34 flu seasons.
March is third, with flu activity peaking this month in six seasons during the 34-season period.
January was the least common month to facilitate peak flu activity, with the flu peaking this month in only five of the 34 flu seasons.