Alaska had more influenza cases reported in the past year than in any of the three prior years, with severity that was worse than in those recent years, according to a new report from state health officials.
There were an estimated 11,900 lab-confirmed cases of influenza – commonly known as the flu – in the 2024-2025 season, which ran from last fall to this summer, said Carrie Edmonson, a state nurse epidemiologist and coauthor of a bulletin released this week by the state Division of Public Health’s epidemiology section.
There were 25 influenza deaths in the just-ended season, including the death of one child, according to the epidemiology bulletin.
In comparison, the 2023-2024 season had 10,200 confirmed cases and 10 deaths, all among adults, according to state records. In the season before, there were five influenza deaths in Alaska, according to state records.
The increases in Alaska are in line with national trends, the new bulletin said.
Increases in both cases and death totals could be at least partially attributed to better reporting, Edmonson said. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, electronic lab reporting has been “enhanced substantially,” she said. “We are definitely getting a lot more cases reported to us.”
Additionally, she noted, the 2024-2025 season was classified as one of high severity nationally, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Nationally, the flu death toll last season hit a five-year high and exceeded that of the prior four seasons by a wide margin, according to the CDC.
As of May, the CDC estimated that there had been 47 million illnesses, 610,00 influenza hospitalizations and 27,000 influenza deaths nationally. The season’s toll as of May included 226 flu deaths among children, 90% of whom had not been fully vaccinated against influenza, according to the CDC.
In Alaska and elsewhere, the past three seasons were vastly different from the extremely low influenza numbers during the COVID-19 pandemic, when there were widespread protections against that disease that spilled over into prevention of other respiratory infections.
“People were isolating substantially, people were masking, people weren’t going out, people weren’t traveling,” Edmonson said. And if people did get the flu then, their cases may have gone unreported because opportunities for in-person provider visits and lab tests were limited during the pandemic, she said.
Last season’s Alaska flu case numbers were highest in February and March, state records show. That contrasted with the previous two seasons, when the biggest flu months were either November or December.
Most Alaska flu cases occur between October and May, but the timing of the annual spikes varies, Edmonson said.
One factor could be timing of vaccination, she said. Getting a vaccines early in the season may be less protective later, she said. “The vaccine wanes over time,” she said, and another factor could be timing of travel.
The overall effectiveness of last season’s vaccine, as calculated nationally, was 46.5%, the bulletin said. That rate is about typical for flu vaccines, Edmonson said.
Even if it is not close to 100% effective, the vaccine is worthwhile because it reduces the likelihood of illness, she said. Vaccinated people who do get influenza have protections that reduce illness severity, she added.
Many Alaska adults appear unenthusiastic about flu vaccines.
Last season, only 23.3% of Alaska adults were vaccinated against influenza, compared to a national rate of 46.7%, the bulletin said. Last season’s Alaska rates were typical for the state; only about one in four Alaska adults were vaccinated against influenza in the past few years, past epidemiology bulletins show.
Public health officials encourage all eligible Alaskans over 6 months in age to get a flu vaccine to prevent illness, and the shot can be administered along with other recommended vaccines like the COVID-19 and RSV vaccines.