NAMPA, Idaho — Flu season is arriving earlier than usual across the Treasure Valley, and health officials say several respiratory illnesses are circulating at the same time — but experts are not sounding the alarm.
Southwest District Health says flu activity is increasing across Idaho. The CDC projects a moderate flu season, similar to last year.
WATCH | See the full report on what's making people sick across the Treasure Valley—
"So we're not that concerned about our hospital capacity getting stressed or an increase more than, more than usual deaths, uh, or anything like that," said Lekshmi Venugopal, epidemiology program manager at Southwest District Health.
Still, more people are getting sick, and sooner, with flu season starting about a month earlier than usual.
Influenza A is currently the dominant flu strain in Idaho. Southwest District Health says about 12% of symptomatic patients coming in for testing are coming back positive for influenza.
Many other patients may have another virus called enterovirus 68, which is showing up in wastewater testing. COVID remains at minimal levels, while RSV is also very low.
Experts say the spread starts in schools.
"Every year we see that group getting first affected because they spend a lot of time together at the school, then they come back home and spread it to the other age groups too," Venugopal said.
At the Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine, pathology professor Brian Martin says cooling weather outside only accelerates the spread inside.
"Everybody's in the classroom, all the buildings are locked up, the weather turns sour... people are inside more often, and that just allows the virus to transmit more easily," Martin said.
Influenza mutates rapidly, meaning even a vaccine that begins as a strong match may become less effective as the virus changes. But experts say an imperfect vaccine can still offer meaningful protection.
"A 50% better chance of having an immune response that fights off the virus is still better than nothing," Martin said.
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