If you haven’t gotten a flu shot, you might want to consider it.
The United States is at its highest level for the illness since the 1997-1998 season, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The Washington State Department of Health says flu activity in our state is high—an increase since last week.
There have been 22 lab-confirmed deaths for the season and 15 flu-like outbreaks in long-term care facilities.
Just under 25% of people in Washington have received the flu vaccine this season.
Local health leaders are urging individuals to get vaccinated, especially before traveling to areas with high case counts.
Nearly all U.S. states were at high or very high levels of flu activity, according to the latest CDC data. At least 11 million people have had the flu this season, 120,000 have been hospitalized with it and 5,000 people have died.
Health officials believe this season’s numbers are being driven by a new variant of the virus called Subclade K. The flu virus is constantly mutating, and it comes in multiple forms. There are two subtypes of Type A flu, and Subclade K is a mutated version of one of them. Health officials say the mutations aren’t enough of a change to be considered an entirely new kind of flu.
©2026 Cox Media Group
