The state health authority confirms the virus is hanging around longer this year.
Health officials have confirmed influenza is sticking around Oregon past the traditional end of flu season.
Hospitalizations for the flu continue nationwide with 116.5 hospitalizations per 100,000 people, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The rate is far higher for Americans 65 and older: 365.6 per 100,000.
The Oregon Health Authority has confirmed this year’s flu season is the worst since the agency started tracking the flu 15 years ago. OHA officials say hospitalizations have continued as this year’s flu season is slowed by late winter.
The flu typically lasts into April, May or even June. Health officials recommend Oregonians get the flu vaccine to prevent a late-season uptick.
“This has been a year of very high flu activity,” Dean Sidelinger, health officer and state epidemiologist at OHA, said in a news release. “We want to remind people that there is still a lot of flu out there and to get their flu shots. Spread of flu can be unpredictable, and we often see another peak late in winter.”
Since Oct 1, Oregon has seen 1,634 flu-related hospitalizations, according to the OHA, which data from Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington counties. The overall hospitalization rate for the 2024-25 season is 90.2 per 100,000 people. Two children have died from flu in Oregon, marking the first deaths in two years.
Willamette Week reports flu vaccination rates continued to fall in Oregon this year. So far this season, 1,289,040 flu doses have been administered, down from 1,315,569 last year. They have been falling since the 2020-21 flu season—the first year of COVID-19—when 1,593,991 doses went into arms.
Oregon saw a spike in influenza cases in December, with 2,931 cases being reported at the end of the month. For the week ending March 15, OHA reported 539 cases. About 13.6% of influenza tests were positive for that same week. Rates for vaccinations of all kinds have been falling since the COVID pandemic.
Fewer people are getting flu shots, with vaccinations down 4% from last year and consistently decreasing since 2022, according to the OHA. People at a higher risk for complications from influenza include older adults, young children, pregnant people and people with certain health conditions.
Oregon has reported one human case of bird flu. Washington and California have 11 and 38 cases, respectively. The CDC has reported 70 cases in humans nationwide and one death.
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