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After a particularly severe flu season that sickened millions of Americans and sent hundreds of thousands to the hospital, a Bronson physician is urging people to prepare now as the 2026-27 flu season approaches.
Dr. William Workman, an internal medicine physician with Bronson and chief of primary care, says a mutated strain of influenza A (H3N2) played a major role in last season’s surge. He believes it could remain the dominant strain this season.
“We saw a variant strain come through the hospitals, it was called H3N2 variant. This was kind of a new strain that had evolved recently that caused the increase in office visits and hospitalizations,” Workman said.
The 2025-26 flu season brought significant illness across the United States.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, from Oct. 1, 2025 through Feb. 28, 2026, there were an estimated at least 26 million flu illnesses, 340,000 hospitalizations and 21,000 deaths nationwide.
The season was heavily driven by influenza A (H3N2).
The CDC reported that 88% of subtyped influenza A-positive specimens were H3N2 during the 2025-2026 season.
This was particularly concerning because it emerged after the viruses used to formulate the 2025-2026 vaccine had already been selected. The CDC says the strain was antigenically different from the H3N2 virus included in that season’s vaccine.
That kind of viral evolution can make it harder for vaccines to provide as much protection against infection.
“When we have the evolution in viruses like that, it does become a little bit difficult because it’s unpredictable. So, then we can’t account for that. So the vaccinations that we have that are coming out are not as effective when we a new variant like that,” Workman said.
The Food and Drug Administration updated all three components of the 2026-2027 U.S. flu vaccine.
The vaccine is designed to protect against three influenza viruses. An H1N1 virus, an H3N2 virus and a B/Victoria lineage virus.
Workman says the H3N2 component is particularly important heading into the new season.
“So, most importantly, the component of the vaccine will be H3N2. So, being the dominant strain in the population that we suppose, that will help with protection during this season. The other two strains are typical. We have the H3 N1 strain and then we also have a B strain that we protect against as well,” Workman said.
The FDA’s annual vaccine selection process is based on surveillance and analysis of influenza viruses circulating around the world and in the United States. Because influenza viruses continually change, vaccine formulations are reviewed and updated each year.
Workman said one of the most important things for people to understand is that vaccination does not provide a guarantee that someone will never contract influenza.
However, the goal is to reduce the risk of serious illness and complications.
“So you can still get the flu with the flu vaccine. You definitely can. But oftentimes, what it’s protecting you against is from severe illness. So even though you might get flu, oftentimes with the vaccination, it protects you against hospitalizations,” Workman said.
Workman said people with certain chronic medical conditions are among those he worries about most when flu activity increases.
“We have to be really careful of. So those are people with type 2 diabetes and ileitis, heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, certain kinds of cancers. Those are a more delicate population and can become sick relatively quickly,” Workman said.
Young children and older adults can also face an increased risk of complications from influenza.
With children returning to classrooms, Workman said influenza can move quickly through households.
He said the incubation period, the time between exposure and developing an infection, can be as short as one to two days.
“It can spread quickly, and it’s very virulent. That means that it spreads quickly from one person to another,” Workman said.
He recommends that people who are sick stay home and isolate themselves when possible to reduce the risk of exposing people who are more vulnerable.
For most people, influenza can cause several days of uncomfortable symptoms. But Workman said there are warning signs that should not be ignored.
Those include:
- Shortness of breath
- Chest pain
- Severe weakness
- Very high fever
Workman said shortness of breath is particularly concerning and should prompt someone to seek immediate medical care.
Workman said another persistent misconception is that someone can catch influenza from the flu vaccine.
“You cannot get the flu from the flu vaccination. It is an inactivated part of the virus and so it is not possible. Likely what happened is either you got the flu vaccination a little bit too late. It takes about two weeks for full effectiveness or it was a strain that was not covered by the vaccine,” Workman said.
He also said concerns about serious or long-term effects from vaccination are among the reasons some patients choose not to get vaccinated.
The CDC recommends annual flu vaccination for everyone 6 months and older, with some exceptions based on individual circumstances.
Workman’s biggest concern heading into the new season isn’t necessarily the virus itself, it’s vaccination rates.
“I’m most worried about the vaccination rates. It seems we’ve seen in other areas of our community where the vaccinations have rates have decreased with other types of diseases. So I have some concern that we’ll see the same thing with flu vaccination rates, which then leaves our population vulnerable,” Workman said.
During the 2025-26 season, CDC estimated that by Feb. 21, about 48% of U.S. children and adolescents ages 6 months through 17 years and 47% of adults 18 and older had received a flu vaccine.