DETROIT — Flu cases are surging in Michigan, state health experts say, as the flu season has hit harder and earlier than it typically does, according to several local health systems.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has recorded 2,110 influenza-related hospitalizations this flu season, including 306 among children ages 4 and under. The disease is responsible for "at least" eight U.S. pediatric deaths this season, said Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, the state's chief medical executive.

"We're hearing from (pediatric hospitals and other facilities that treat children) those influenza cases are increasing exponentially," Bagdasarian said Wednesday during a virtual media roundtable with other experts. "They're also seeing a massive influx of influenza cases in their ICUs and on ventilators. Again, these are pediatric cases."

Ryan Malosh, director of the Division of Immunization at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, said Michigan is seeing a 40% increase in hospitalizations due to flu compared to this time last year.

"This flu season ... is hitting earlier and it is worringly severe," Malosh said.

According to state data, there were more than 1,400 hospital admissions associated with acute respiratory virus for the week ending Dec. 27, the latest week for which data is available. Among those, 929 admissions were for influenza, 378 were for COVID-19 and 128 were for respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV.

The flu accounted for 8% of all patient visits to emergency departments around the state the week of Christmas, up from 6.7% for the same week in 2024. Children up to age 17 accounted for more than 69% of all emergency department visits for acute respiratory virus.

“Flu is not a mild illness for many children,” said Dr. Aarti Raheja, a pediatrician and clinical assistant professor of pediatrics at Michigan Medicine. “Every year, children become seriously ill from flu complications that could have been prevented with vaccination. Some require intensive care, and most children and adolescents who die from the flu are unvaccinated."

Government data posted Monday for flu activity through the week of Christmas showed that by some measures the season is surpassing the flu epidemic of last winter, one of the harshest in recent history, The Associated Press reported.

Local health systems respond to outbreak

Dr. Jason Vieder, an emergency department physician and vice chairman of emergency medicine at Henry Ford Health, said the flu season has "certainly been more robust" than previous years, and the health system is seeing higher numbers earlier in the season.

From Dec. 14 to 20, 222 flu-positive patients were hospitalized across Henry Ford Health's 13 acute care hospitals, which are located in southeast Michigan and Jackson, according to Henry Ford Health. That number reflects any instance in which a flu-positive patient was occupying a hospital bed, regardless of the reason for admission.

Henry Ford Health's flu-positive hospitalizations have since decreased. The most recent data shows that 174 flu-positive patients were admitted to hospitals in the system between Dec. 28 and Jan. 3.

Meanwhile, Henry Ford Health's flu positivity rate has exceeded 25% for the past three weeks, peaking at 33% during the week of Dec. 21 to 27. The week of Dec. 28, the flu positivity rate dipped to just over 26%. Those figures don't include legacy Ascension sites.

Vieder hypothesized that the positivity rate improved in the week of Dec. 28 because children had been out of school for a couple of weeks.

"I would guess that that is part of why we've seen a little bit of a dip in our numbers," he said, "because you're just not having large groups of people all together where illness can be more readily spread."

Mary Masson, senior director of public relations for Michigan Medicine, said the health system is also seeing a high number of emergency department visits and a high number of patients hospitalized with flu so far, although very few requiring intensive care unit care.

She also noted that the season started earlier than last season, and on Wednesday afternoon, there were 25 patients in Michigan Medicine's adult hospitals in Ann Arbor with flu, which is roughly twice the number it had at this time last year.

Masson said it is "still too early to know how severe" the flu season will be.

"Last year (winter 24-25) was the worst flu season we have had in terms of hospitalizations in Michigan in 15+ years so it will be hard to top that season, although there is chance we could," she said in an email. "Right now, however, it is too early to predict with any confidence."

She said that last year, the peak flu census for Michigan Medicine's adult hospitals was in mid-February at 42 patients.

Masson said that while Michigan Medicine is "busy as is typical this time of year," it can handle the current volume of patients. It opened the new D. Dan and Betty Kahn Healthcare Pavilion in late November 2024 as well as incremental adult beds in its University Hospital in December.

Uptick in flu and COVID cases

Trinity Health Michigan's nine hospitals, which are located across the Lower Peninsula, have seen an increase in patients testing positive for flu and COVID-19, said Dr. Anurag Malani, vice chief of staff and medical director of hospital epidemiology and antimicrobial stewardship programs at Trinity Health Ann Arbor. He said roughly 100 patients were hospitalized for the flu in the health system as of Tuesday, which is double what it was this time last year.

"Many of our hospitals are experiencing significant strain on inpatient capacity, and some are facing challenges with critical care capacity," he said in an email.

But he said the community should know that Trinity Health Michigan has "the expertise and resources to care for them."

Meanwhile, Dr. Matthew Sims, an infectious disease physician at Corewell Health William Beaumont University Hospital, said it has been a "reasonably bad flu season." The health system, which is located in southeast, southwest and west Michigan, is seeing week-over-week increases of respiratory viruses, particularly flu, in emergency department visits and hospital admissions. The increase is happening in most Corewell Health regions, but it’s happening “a little more rapidly” in southeast Michigan, they said.

Officials said the William Beaumont University Hospital in Royal Oak is seeing similar numbers of flu to what it was seeing last year at the same time.

“It does appear that this year has peaked earlier than last year (our case numbers in recent weeks have been higher than the trends we were seeing last year) but it is too soon to say as we need to continue to monitor,” they said.

How to stay safe

Sims said it is "absolutely not" too late for people to get the flu shot. He said it takes about two weeks for the shot to give you full protection. He said the flu season usually lasts into May.

"So right now, in early January, it is still ample time to get protection," Sims said.

Henry Ford Health's Vieder encouraged members of the public to "be vigilant" about handwashing. He added that people shouldn't "just push through" and go to work or send a sick child to school.

"We would all rather that everyone is actually a little more cautious about going to work or sending their child to school," he said.

Vieder also encouraged people to cough or sneeze into their sleeve, not their hand. He said symptoms of the flu are fever, headache, nasal congestion, sore throat, a cough, stomach issues, body aches and low back pain.

Sims said you should go to the emergency room if you're so sick that you can't do "your normal activities of living," such as getting out of bed or eating and drinking, or if you're having trouble breathing.

Other diseases

Meanwhile, Michigan last year saw its worst measles outbreak in more than three decades and cases of whooping cough remain high, officials said.

The spread of each of these diseases can be curbed through childhood immunization, experts said Wednesday.

“Vaccine-preventable diseases are not theoretical. We are seeing their impact right now,” Bagdasarian said. “Michigan’s standing recommendation reinforces that following evidence-based immunization schedules is one of the most effective ways to protect children at the ages they are most vulnerable.”

Last month, Bagdasarian issued a recommendation advising health care providers to follow vaccine schedules for children from the American Academy of Pediatrics or the American Academy of Family Physicians, shifting away from guidance coming from President Donald Trump's administration.

Her recommendation came after U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted to end the longstanding recommendation that all U.S. babies get the hepatitis B vaccine, according to The Associated Press. Kennedy has long been critical of vaccines.

Bagdasarian said last month that the state's rate of children ages 19-35 months receiving all their required vaccinations to enroll in school has dropped to 68.4%, down from 75.4% as of 2017.

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