These Are the Most Common H3N2 Super Flu Symptoms Doctors Are Seeing Right Now

If you’ve been paying attention to the news lately, you likely have heard about the new strain of severe “super flu” going around right now.

“H3N2 Influenza A has undergone genetic drift this year by generating a new variant called ‘subclade K,'” public health expert and infectious disease specialist Dr. Tyler B. Evans, MD, MS, MPH, AAHIVS, DTM&H, FIDSA, tells Parade.

As the name suggests, the super flu is pretty scary and has a lot of potential to make us miserable: Several healthy children U.S. have died from the H3N2 super flu strain and complications, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

“The 2025-26 flu season is one of the strongest seasons on record with some states in the U.S. reporting high and even record numbers of hospitalizations and emergency department visits due to flu,” Brad Hutton, MPH, infectious disease epidemiologist at Hutton Health Consulting, tells Parade. “More than 90% of the flu viruses recently tested and reported by labs across the nation have been type A (H3N2), most of them belonging to a new subclade K. This new subclade K represents a genetic drift with several mutations from the versions that were circulating across the globe earlier this year when decisions were made about the strains that would be used for this year’s vaccine.”

Read full article on Parade.com.