Concerns about the flu spreading in the U.S. are growing as the U.K. continues to see a spike in cases among children and young adults.
The increased number of cases in the U.K. could be a predictor for the flu season in the U.S., according to ABC News chief medical correspondent Dr. Tara Narula.
“We know that England or other places can be a marker for what is going to happen here, because their flu season happens a few weeks earlier than ours,” Narula said on Good Morning America Monday. “We have low numbers of cases so far but they are increasing.”
Some hospitals are starting to implement flu season visitor restrictions, including the Detroit Medical Center and Children’s Hospital of Michigan, which are allowing, as of Monday, up to two visitors per patient. Only those 13 years of age and older are permitted on inpatient hospital floors or in observation units.
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, flu activity in the U.S. is up at least 7% in the last week, and so far, there have been nearly 2 million illnesses, 19,000 hospitalizations and 730 deaths from the flu.
Last year the U.S. saw an extremely severe flu season, with 560,000 hospitalizations and approximately 38,000 deaths from the flu, the CDC reported in September.
Meanwhile, in the U.K., where flu season started earlier than usual this year and has yet to peak, doctors are seeing increasing flu activity that’s currently at “medium” level with hospitalizations for the flu around 7.79 per 100,000, according to UK Health Security Agency data.
Some hospitals, such as the Sherwood Forest Hospitals in Nottinghamshire, have also reintroduced face mask policies in light of the uptick in flu cases.