The 2026-27 flu season is arriving early in the San Francisco Bay Area, prompting infectious diseases specialist Dr Peter Chin-Hong to outline what families should know as respiratory illnesses begin to circulate.
Dr Chin-Hong, of the University of California, San Francisco, discussed the developing flu season and the steps parents and carers can take to reduce the risk of infection among children and vulnerable relatives.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says everyone aged six months and over should receive an annual flu vaccine, unless they have a medical reason not to. For most people, September and October are considered the best time to be vaccinated, although protection can still be obtained later in the season.
All flu vaccines available in the United States for the 2026-27 season are trivalent, meaning they are designed to protect against three influenza viruses: two influenza A viruses and one influenza B virus.
California’s Department of Public Health says flu activity generally increases during the autumn and reaches its highest levels during the winter months. The department is monitoring infections, emergency department visits and hospitalisations through its respiratory-virus surveillance programme.
The CDC’s current outlook suggests the season is likely to be of moderate severity overall, although officials caution that the course of influenza can change as different strains circulate and levels of population immunity vary.
