Welcome

Welcome to New York Flu Watch, a resource you can use to follow influenza activity across New York State and New York City in near real time. This page brings together multiple open data sources to give you a comprehensive view of laboratory-confirmed influenza cases, emergency department utilization, hospitalizations, mortality, and vaccination coverage. By drawing from statewide and city-level surveillance systems, you can explore how influenza patterns differ across regions, populations, and phases of the season. Whether you are making operational decisions, planning prevention efforts, or simply trying to stay informed, the analyses presented here are intended to help you interpret current trends with clarity and context.

Data Overview

You will find that the data presented on this page represent several complementary surveillance streams, each providing a different perspective on the burden and distribution of influenza. Laboratory-confirmed case data give you insight into virologically confirmed infections, while emergency department and hospitalization data highlight how many people are seeking care for influenza-related illness. Mortality data, drawn from federal vital statistics systems, show you how influenza contributes to severe outcomes across age groups and regions. Vaccination coverage data, collected through national surveys, allow you to assess how well communities are protected as the season unfolds. Together, these datasets form a layered picture of influenza activity, although each dataset has its own structure, strengths, and limitations.

How to Use These Data

You can refer to these data to understand where influenza activity is most prominent, how quickly it is increasing or decreasing, and which groups or geographic areas may be experiencing greater burden. By reviewing the maps, time trends, and age-stratified analyses, you can identify patterns that may warrant closer attention—such as early spikes in activity, regional disparities, or notable changes in healthcare use. These displays also help you compare the current season with historical patterns, an essential step in determining whether observed activity is typical or unusually elevated. Public health departments, hospital systems, and community organizations may find these outputs useful for situational awareness, resource planning, vaccination outreach, and communication with the public. Individuals can also use these data to make informed decisions about preventive behaviors, healthcare-seeking, and vaccination timing.

Why Are These Data Important?

Understanding influenza trends is crucial for protecting both individual and community health, and these data provide you with actionable insight into the timing, spread, and severity of each flu season. The data help you see when influenza begins circulating, how rapidly it grows, and which areas or groups experience higher levels of illness. These patterns support critical planning and response actions, such as reinforcing vaccination messaging, preparing healthcare facilities for increased demand, and identifying communities where additional outreach may be needed. Because influenza varies from year to year—and because vaccination uptake, population immunity, and circulating strains change over time—having timely and transparent data is essential for making informed policy and operational decisions. By following these indicators throughout the season, you can stay aware of emerging risks and understand how influenza is affecting New Yorkers in real time.

What Do These Data Show?

The figures and tables on this page show you how influenza is manifesting across multiple dimensions, including counts, rates, severity, and geographic variation. Laboratory-confirmed case data show where reported infections are occurring and how those patterns shift across weeks, regions, and influenza types. Emergency department visit and hospitalization data highlight the clinical burden of influenza-like illness on healthcare systems, an important marker of severity and system stress that may rise even when testing is incomplete. Mortality data show how influenza contributes to severe outcomes, allowing you to explore differences across age groups and regions. Vaccination coverage data give you a sense of how well-protected various populations may be, and whether coverage levels align with seasonal risk. Taken together, these outputs present a detailed and interconnected view of the influenza landscape.

What Do These Data Not Show?

Although these data provide valuable insights, they do not reflect the full extent of influenza activity in the population. Laboratory-confirmed cases capture only individuals who sought care, were tested, and received results that were reported to surveillance systems; many mild or moderate influenza infections occur outside of healthcare settings and are therefore not counted. Emergency department and hospitalization data reflect only the subset of people who became ill enough to seek urgent or inpatient care, so they do not represent all influenza-like illness in the community. Mortality data report deaths in which influenza or related conditions were identified on death certificates, but they do not capture all influenza-associated deaths, especially in cases where influenza was not tested for or recorded. Vaccination coverage data are based on survey responses and may be subject to recall error, nonresponse bias, or sampling variability. For these reasons, you should consider these data as highly useful indicators—but not complete measures—of influenza activity.

Implications for Public Health Practice

Using these data, you can better anticipate the needs of your community, guide prevention strategies, and strengthen preparedness for periods of increased respiratory illness. Trends in laboratory-confirmed cases and emergency department utilization can help you identify when activity is accelerating and when interventions such as vaccination messaging, testing reminders, or enhanced infection prevention practices may be most effective. Regional and age-specific analyses can help you target resources to populations or areas experiencing disproportionate impact, while vaccination coverage data can support efforts to reduce disparities in protection. Mortality patterns can inform high-level planning by highlighting groups that may be at increased risk for severe outcomes. By integrating these data into ongoing monitoring efforts, you can support timely public health action, promote community resilience, and enhance the overall response to influenza across New York State.

Executive Summary¹

Date: January 30, 2026
Subject: Influenza Surveillance Briefing: Update on the 2025-2026 Season

Statewide surveillance data indicate that the 2025-2026 influenza season began with a period of substantial and rapid growth, peaked in late December, and is now in a declining phase. Laboratory-confirmed cases of Influenza A, the predominant strain this season, increased from 371 during the week ending October 4, 2025, to a peak of 71,232 cases during the week ending December 20, 2025. Since this peak, weekly Influenza A cases have decreased by 92.0% to 5,671 for the most recent reporting week ending January 24, 2026. Data from separate surveillance systems covering different time periods, such as emergency department visits in New York City, showed corresponding increases in influenza-like illness earlier in the season, suggesting widespread community transmission that placed a growing demand on healthcare systems.

The intensity of the current season has substantially exceeded that of recent comparator seasons. During the week ending January 3, 2026, New York State reported 37,682 total laboratory-confirmed influenza cases. This figure is considerably higher than the 221 cases reported during the same week of the 2020-2021 season and the 3,445 cases from the 2014-2015 season. Influenza A has consistently accounted for the vast majority of cases, while Influenza B circulation has remained at low levels, with weekly case counts peaking at 1,435 in late January. The rapid escalation and high peak of Influenza A activity are the most notable features of this season’s trajectory.

While case counts are now declining, data from earlier in the season provide insight into initial geographic and demographic patterns. Spatial data through October 4, 2025, showed the highest cumulative incidence rates in downstate regions, specifically Long Island (2,236.0 cases per 100,000) and the Mid-Hudson region (2,038.1 per 100,000), compared to a statewide rate of 1,668.7 per 100,000 at that time. Slightly more recent demographic data from New York City, through November 8, 2025, reported the highest cumulative case counts among adults aged 18-64 (1,349 cases) and school-aged children 5-17 years old (1,214 cases). These early patterns may reflect transmission dynamics in community, school, and workplace settings.

Syndromic surveillance data from New York City captured the initial escalation in healthcare utilization. Between October 4 and November 8, 2025, the percentage of all emergency department (ED) visits for influenza increased from 0.06% to 0.47%. Over the same period, the percentage of all hospitalizations originating from the ED with an influenza diagnosis increased from 0.03% to 0.16%. These indicators point to a growing burden on acute care facilities during the season’s ascent. It is important to note that the most recent available state-level influenza mortality data are from October 2023 and therefore do not yet reflect the impact of the current season.

Preliminary influenza vaccine coverage estimates for the 2024-2025 season may offer context regarding population susceptibility entering the current season. Compared to the prior year, initial coverage estimates were modestly lower across several age groups. For example, estimated coverage for adults aged 18-49 was 28.9% (95% CI: 27.3%-30.5%) for 2024-25, compared to 30.7% (95% CI: 28.7%-32.7%) for the 2023-24 season. While some of these year-over-year differences are small and may fall within the surveys’ margins of error, a sustained pattern of lower uptake could be a contributing factor to the observed increase in transmission. Continued monitoring of all surveillance indicators is warranted as the season progresses.

Laboratory-Confirmed Cases of Influenza in New York State