(CNN) – Doctors are warning about surging cases of the flu as at least 1,900 people have died from the virus nationwide this season, including three children.
At the DC Public Health Laboratory, doctors are busy testing diseases that could become a public health concern.
“The really only time that people see us is when there’s a public health emergency,” said Dr. Jocelyn Hauser, director at the DC Public Health Laboratory.
Hauser said doctors’ offices and hospitals around the country send them swabs collected from patients.
“We receive those samples and log them into our information system,” she said.
Those results are then sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This year, the CDC is particularly concerned about growing cases of the flu.
The latest data released Friday show there have been at least 4.6 million flu cases so far this season, along with 49,000 hospitalizations and 1,900 deaths in the United States alone.
The dominant strain causing the surge in illnesses is subclade K, a mutation of influenza A.
“We think this subclade K virus is evading population immunity, meaning more people are susceptible to infection,” said Professor Andrew Pekosz with John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
While doctors and the CDC said the best protection is the flu vaccine, Pekosz said this year the shot may not be enough.
“It has mutations that may allow it to evade some but not all of the influenza vaccine-induced protection,” he said.
As millions of people prepare to travel and gather this week for the holidays, there is growing concern that cases may spike, especially as cases are surging around the globe.
Children, adults 65 and older and those with underlying medical conditions are particularly vulnerable to the flu.
Medical experts are urging everyone 6 months and older to get the flu vaccine.
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