Even without a perfect match, public health experts say the flu vaccine offers important protection against serious complications.

“It’s the worst we’ve had in at least 20 years,” said Dr. Caitlin Rivers, an epidemiologist and senior scholar at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, to CNN. “We’re seeing a majority of the country is experiencing very high levels of activity, and we’re still in the thick of it.”

In the midst of what could be one of the most severe flu seasons on record, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s CDC has ceased recommending all children get vaccinated for the seasonal flu, along with five other previously recommended vaccines.

Flu cases are continuing to spike in the United States. New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that at least 5,000 people have died of the illness this year and that doctor's visits for flu have reached their highest level in decades.

Influenza is on the rise. Flu activity was "high" or "very high" in 32 states and jurisdictions, as of Dec. 30, according to the CDC.

Almost one in ten people visiting the doctor in the week ending December 27 were there for flu-like symptoms, according to new U.S. data.

Flu cases keep increasing, but at least one Pittsburgh-area emergency room doctor says not everyone needs to visit him.

The last available tracing data from the CDC found that 91% of the 600 U.S. flu cases that were tested between Dec. 22 and 28 were caused by H3N2. Additionally, 90.5% of the 389 H3N2 viruses sent for further testing during that time were subclade K.

Flu cases are surging across the country, and Tennessee is one of the states with “very high” flu activity. A doctor from Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital says this trend will continue. Here in the Mid-South,