Updated: 2/17/25
See that purple color on Michigan on the map? Yeah, not good. It's already a bad flu season in Michigan, and it hasn't ended yet.
Joe Coyle is the Deputy State Epidemiologist.
"It's the highest that we've seen in the data that we report to CDC for over a decade," Coyle told Michigan Public. "The proportion of all of the emergency department visits in the state that are the result of influenza is extremely high, and we haven't seen these trends go in a downward direction yet."
Two influenza-related pediatric deaths have been reported so far in the state, with several other pediatric influenza deaths currently under investigation.
Coyle said it takes about two weeks for the flu vaccine to start working to reduce people's risk of severe illness and hospitalization, so it's not too late to get the shot.
"That flu shot is a really good intervention to help turn a potential hospital stay into a mild illness," he said.
Corewell Health hospitals reported a big surge in flu cases. Flu season admissions are higher this year, they reported, than they were last year at this time, and higher than last year’s peak across the system.
On February 13th, across all regions, the system's hospitals saw 264 in emergencies departments with flu; 51 were admitted.
That brings the total number of patients being treated for flu in Corewell hospitals to 303, 17 of them children.
A Henry Ford Health spokesperson said for their hospitals and clinics, too, this flu season is a severe one.
"Like other healthcare systems across Michigan, Henry Ford Health is seeing a sharp rise in patient visits to our emergency departments. We continue to experience an influx of respiratory illnesses, including the flu. Currently, our lab is reporting the flu positivity rate is more than 30%. That is more than double what we were seeing about a month ago."
Exactly why this flu season is so much worse than those in the past decade may not be known for a while.
Dr. Nicholas Gilpin is Medical Director of Epidemiology at Corewell Health in Southeast Michigan. Gilpin said the flu vaccine is a "pretty good match with what is currently circulating, but flu vaccine numbers have been low this season.”
But Dr. Brad Uren, an emergency medicine doctor at University of Michigan Health, said, in addition to flu vaccine uptake being low, "there is some evidence to suggest that the current flu vaccine may be a less-than-ideal match for the currently circulating strains."
Experts say if you're sick, but not sure if what you have is the flu, there's now a home test available for purchase at pharmacies that tests for both COVID and flu.
But when should you head to the emergency department?
Dr. Crystal Arthur is McLaren Health Care's Chief Medical Director of Emergency Services.
"Patients should come to the emergency department if they are having difficulty breathing, experiencing the symptoms of dehydration, such as dizziness and confusion, or if a fever exceeds 104," she said.
This story was updated to include data from Corewell Health
