Florida's sees spike in "super flu" cases

• Florida's whooping cough cases are at a five-year high, which pediatricians attribute largely to vaccine hesitancy, according to WUSF, West Central Florida's NPR station.

Between the lines: The rise also arrives as chaos has enveloped the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and as the Trump administration is slashing the federal childhood vaccination schedule.

Driving the news: Cases of the flu remain elevated nationwide, according to data from the CDC.

• New CDC data shows that there's been at least 7.5 million illnesses, 81,000 hospitalizations and 3,100 deaths from the flu so far this season.

Zoom in: The number of Florida emergency room visits that resulted in a flu diagnosis jumped from about 1% during the first week of November to nearly 3% in the first week of December, per the state Department of Health.

Yes, but: Outbreaks across the Sunshine State remain lower than they were in previous years.

• In the 2023-24 season, hospitalizations that resulted in a flu diagnosis at the end of November were around 4% compared to more than 5% during the first week of that December, data show.

Reality check: There isn't an official "super flu."

• The term emerges every so often, typically when there's a more severe than usual strain of the flu circulating, experts say.
• This time around, the strain known as subclade K is being associated with the term.
• The most recent CDC tracking data shows that nearly 90% of new flu cases in the country were from subclade K, which appears to be the super flu this time around.

More from Axios:

• Fewer kids are getting their flu shots
• CDC formally approves RFK Jr. vaccine panel recommendations
• Workplace insurance stymied by shifting vax rules