KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Flu cases are surging in Kansas City and more people are hospitalized with the virus this year, mirroring a nationwide uptick, medical staff at the University of Kansas Medical Center said Thursday.

According to chief medical officers in the health system, KU Med’s hospitals are facing operational challenges with high patient counts and staff contracting the flu while treating patients.

This flu season, doctors saw an earlier onset of cases and a high infection rate that continues to climb, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Steve Stites said in a media briefing.

“We’ve got lots of patients in the emergency room that don’t have a bed because we’ve got about two and a half hospital units full of viral illness patients taking up those beds,” Stites said.

National data indicates the number of people being seen at hospitals for flu-like illnesses has not yet peaked for this season, KU Med doctors said Thursday.

According to data published this week from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the United States is at its highest levels of respiratory illness in 25 years.

Kansas City flu rates

In Kansas City, flu cases doubled in the last week of December, compared to the week prior, according to data from the Kansas City Health Department.

Reported flu cases far exceed the city’s overall population rate of 199 cases per 100,000, the health department said in a news release.

Children ages 4 and under are, so far, the most affected group, with case rates of 728 per 100,000 for ages 0–4 and 535 per 100,000 for ages 5–14, the health department reports.

Young adults (15–24) also show elevated rates at 240 cases per 100,000.

Dr. Marvia Jones, Director of Health for the Kansas City Health Department, said people should be practicing preventative measures to keep the community safe.

Frequent hand-washing, good hygiene and nutrition, covering coughs and staying home while you’re sick helps prevent the spread, doctors at KU Med said Thursday.

“This includes staying at home from work, school, and social gatherings when sick,” Jones said in a statement. “Our health impacts everything in our daily lives, including the ability to go to work, school, family functions, and so many other aspects of life.”

Battling ‘super flu’

KU Med’s Medical Director for Infection Prevention and Control Dr. Dana Hawkinson said this year presents unique challenges with a new strain of the virus, subclade K, H3N2 on the rise.

This variant of influenza has been called a “super flu.”

According to Hawkinson, influenza viruses are notorious for being able to shift and change the way they look to evade the body’s immune system.

“Super flu” is a mutation of the common flu A subtype, and it is not a strain included in the flu vaccine.

This means a flu shot could be less effective against “super flu,” Hawkinson said.

“Unfortunately, the match for the vaccine and this current H3 strain of influenza virus is not a good match,” Hawkinson said. “Now you will get partial protection, but it is not optimal, and so that could certainly be aiding in… more people having more illness, even if they were vaccinated.”

Nevertheless, doctors still recommend getting the vaccine for partial protection from the more common strains of influenza.

Influenza A accounts for 91% of reported cases in Kansas City, while Influenza B has decreased, representing 9%, according to health department data. Flu reports continue to outpace COVID-19 cases in the region.

Kansas City is about halfway through its typical flu season, Hawkinson said, so exposure to influenza is likely for several weeks ahead.

As of Jan. 7, the University of Kansas Health System reports 23 adults hospitalized at its 39th Ave and Rainbow Boulevard location. There, two were receiving treatment in the ICU.

Between its Olathe and Paola hospitals, there were 13 adults hospitalized with flu and one patient in the ICU.

At its other locations, the hospital reports 10 additional patients hospitalized.

“We don’t know when it will end,” Hawkinson said. “Hopefully it will start to die off or decrease in the next couple of weeks, but right now, especially as kids are going back to school from winter break, we have to anticipate it’s going to continue to surge.”

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