Washington State Flu Deaths Are On A Near Decade High Pace

According to data from The Washington State Department of Health, flu deaths this season (October to October) are on a concerning pace.  The last available data is from the next to last week, or week 51, of 2022 that ended on December 24th.

As of that date, 93 Laboratory-Confirmed Influenza Associated Deaths were reported to the State DOH.  To put it in perspective, here is the count of deaths of Laboratory-Confirmed Influenza Associated Deaths for each flu season through Week 51 from 2015 to now:

• 2022-2023     93
• 2021-2022      0
• 2020-2021      0
• 2019-2020     11
• 2018-2019       6
• 2017-2018     20
• 2016-2017     20
• 2015-2016      5
• 2014-2015      9

89 of those 93 deaths are adults and 4 are children.  Of the 89 adult deaths, the significant majority, 71, are over the age of 65 with 12 more between the ages of 50 and 64.

The Puget Sound area is reporting nearly half of all flu-related deaths with 39.  The Southwest region has reported 13 deaths, the North region 12, followed by the East and West regions with 11 and 10 deaths, and the Central region with 8.  The only area that has yet to report a flu death is the Northwest region.

The most common strain for this season has been Influenza A, with all of the Laboratory-Confirmed Influenza Associated Deaths being associated with the A strain to this point.