Flu season is arriving weeks earlier than usual this year, with health system, retail pharmacy and federal surveillance data all showing activity rising ahead of schedule.
Five things to know:
1. Data from Epic Research shows flu rates are off to their earliest start since the COVID-19 pandemic. Flu encounters reached 140.6 per 100,000 patients the week of Sept. 13 — the highest mid-September level in five years and about double the rates for the same week in 2024 and 2025.
2. In each of the past two seasons, flu rates didn’t reach that level until early November, about seven weeks later, according to Epic research. The increase held across outpatient, emergency department and inpatient settings. Test positivity reached 1.5% that week, up from 0.6% and 0.5% at the same point in 2024 and 2025, respectively. Flu activity typically begins rising in October and peaks between December and February.
3. Seattle Children’s reported about 150 pediatric flu cases across its system in two weeks, up from about 10 in the same period last fall — a level not typically seen until early December.
“We’re about two months early,” Danielle Zerr, MD, head of pediatric infectious diseases, told The Washington Post Oct. 4.
4. Cold and flu medication purchases at Walgreens are up 21.7% year over year, according to company data first reported by ABC News Oct. 8. Cough drop purchases at the retail pharmacy chain are up 16.6% compared with the same period last year.
5. CDC surveillance data shows national flu activity remains low but is increasing. In the week ending Sept. 26, 3.4% of respiratory specimens tested by clinical laboratories were positive for influenza, and hospitals reported 2,572 lab-confirmed flu admissions. Adults 65 and older had the highest admission rate. Health officials continue to recommend flu vaccination for everyone 6 months and older.
