Surge in flu cases driven primarily by influenza A(H3N2) and an emerging subclade known as subclade K, according to WHO. While several European countries, particularly the United Kingdom, are grappling with a surge in what is being dubbed the ‘super flu’, Pakistani health experts say the situation “warrants caution, but there is no need to panic” as the condition is caused by an existing virus undergoing some genetic shifts. Dr Faisal Mahmood, Professor and Section Head of Infectious Diseases at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, explained that H3N2 is not a new virus and, like H1N1, is seen every year. He told Dawn that while the outbreak appears more intense this season, he stressed that it is not expected to escalate into a pandemic on the scale of Covid-19 or the H1N1 outbreak in 2009. Outlining key preventive measures, Dr Mahmood said vaccination remains the most important step, even though the current season is already underway. “It’s a little late in the season now to get vaccinated but every year the vaccine comes in October and everybody who can, should get the vaccine especially people who are old who have other medical problems especially those who are obese, who are pregnant, or who have neurological diseases.”