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Seasonal flu cases have hit a 15-year high this year -- filling hospitals, shutting down schools, and leading to an estimated 19,000 flu-related deaths so far in the United States.
今年的季节性流感病例数创下了15年来的新高，导致医院人满为患，学校停课，截至目前，美国估计已有1.9万例与流感相关的死亡病例。
These deaths even topped winter COVID-19-related deaths for the first time since the pandemic began five years ago.
这些死亡病例数甚至自五年前新冠疫情开始以来，首次超过了与冬季新冠病毒相关的死亡病例数。
While flu cases surge, RSV, norovirus, and COVID-19 infections have also remained high, "putting a significant strain on hospitals -- particularly as patients compete for the same resources such as intensive care unit beds and healthcare personnel," says Jason Nagata, a pediatrician at University of California, San Francisco Benioff Children's Hospital.
旧金山加利福尼亚大学贝尼奥夫儿童医院儿科医生杰森·长田表示，在流感病例激增的同时，呼吸道合胞病毒（RSV）、诺如病毒以及新冠病毒感染病例数也居高不下，“这给医院带来了巨大压力，尤其是当患者们都在争夺重症监护病房床位和医护人员等相同资源的时候。
"Hospitals are struggling to keep up with the demand, and some have been forced to set up temporary triage tents."
医院正努力满足需求，有些医院甚至被迫搭建了临时分诊帐篷。”
Moreover, this flu season most closely resembles the 2019-2020 season, which saw peaks in December, February, and March.
此外，这个流感季与2019至2020年的流感季最为相似，当时在12月、2月和3月都出现了发病高峰。
If a similar peak happens next month of this year, there could be even more devastation.
如果今年下个月也出现类似的高峰，可能会造成更大的破坏。
"It's not always clear why flu seasons vary so much in severity," says William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, but there are likely several factors contributing to this year's significantly high numbers.
范德比尔特大学医学院的传染病专家威廉·沙夫纳表示：“流感季的严重程度为何会有如此大的差异，原因并不总是很明确。”但今年流感病例数显著增多，可能有几个因素。
One component Schaffner points to is this year's unusually cold winter "driving people indoors, thereby increasing close contact and making it easy for the virus to spread."
沙夫纳指出的一个因素是，今年冬天异常寒冷，“人们都待在室内，从而增加了密切接触的机会，使得病毒更容易传播”。
Similar to RSV and COVID-19, influenza is transmitted through tiny respiratory droplets that are released when an infected person breathes, talks, coughs, or sneezes.
与呼吸道合胞病毒和新冠病毒类似，流感病毒是通过受感染的人呼吸、说话、咳嗽或打喷嚏时释放出的微小呼吸道飞沫传播的。
The U.S. is also likely still experiencing an "immunity gap" resulting from less exposure to the flu and other viruses during the pandemic due to COVID-19-related preventative measures, says Nagata.
长田表示，由于新冠疫情相关的预防措施，在疫情期间人们接触流感病毒和其他病毒的机会减少，美国很可能仍处于“免疫空白期”。
Precautions like social distancing and face mask use, while critical in preventing the spread of the coronavirus, led to fewer influenza cases during the pandemic and therefore fewer antibody development in individuals to protect against subsequent flu seasons like the one occurring now.
社交距离和佩戴口罩等预防措施虽然在预防新冠病毒传播方面至关重要，但在疫情期间导致流感病例减少，因此人们体内针对后续流感季（比如现在这个流感季）产生的抗体也较少。
This flu season has also been "highly unpredictable," Nagata explains, with multiple waves of flu infections and both H1N1 and H3N2 strains circulating at the same time.
长田解释说，这个流感季也“极难预测”，出现了多波流感感染，甲型H1N1和H3N2两种毒株同时传播。
The virus normally only sees one peak per season and has a strong predominance of one strain over another, so multiple peaks and two strains sharing the same stage is unusual.
正常情况下，病毒每个流感季只出现一个发病高峰，而且一种毒株会明显占主导地位，所以出现多个高峰并且两种毒株同时流行是不寻常的。
