Influenza is surging in Michigan and throughout the country. The state’s level of flu-like illness activity for the week ending Dec. 27 earned it “very high” status, or the worst tier of the 13-level assessment reported weekly by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Eighteen states earned the top activity level at the end of 2025 while 11 others fell into the second or third levels, including Ohio, Indiana, Missouri and Minnesota in the Midwest. “We’ve been seeing quite a bit of viral illness,” said Dr. Jason Vieder, an emergency department physician and vice chairman of emergency medicine for Henry Ford Health. Vieder noted “record-setting” days around Christmas in terms of patients seen throughout the system. Sick visitors weren’t limited to any particular demographics, though there were plenty of children, he recalled. Last year’s flu season was among the worst in the last 15 years, highlighted by high hospitalization rates and the most pediatric flu deaths in a season since at least 2004. Trends from other countries around the globe suggested a potentially early and more intense 2025-26 flu season as well. Those projections have begun to take shape. About 11.3% of Michigan’s outpatient health care visits in late December were for influenza-like illness. That outpaced the national average (8.2%) and was an increase from 4.4% and 7.5% the two weeks prior. Test positivity is another key measurement health officials track during cold and flu season. At Henry Ford Health, positivity exceeded 25% for the past three weeks, including a peak of 33% for the week ending Dec. 27. For context, the system’s positivity rate peaked at 31.7% last year, and almost 16.5% during the 2023-24 flu season. “Last week went down a little but it’s still pretty robust in terms of flu activity and people feeling ill in general,” Vieder said. “We’re going to see folks not feeling well for a while still.” Elsewhere around the state, Corewell Health noted week-over-week increases across all of its regions, including a more rapid increase in southeast Michigan. Nationally, hospital admissions are on a steep upward trajectory, led by adults age 65 and older and children younger than 5. Influenza A accounts for about 97% of hospitalizations, with the majority of sampled specimens being of the H3N2 subtype, according to the CDC. Federal officials estimate the current flu season has caused at least 11 million illnesses, 120,000 hospitalizations, and 5,000 deaths, including nine children. No pediatric flu deaths have been reported yet in Michigan. Beyond the flu, Michigan hospitals have noted lesser increases in COVID-19, RSV and other seasonal viruses. Most of the state’s large health systems hadn’t yet implemented any visitor restrictions as of Monday, though they’re monitoring flu activity and may limit visitors down the road. Detroit Medical Center was an exception; officials said they proactively updated their visitation guidelines Dec. 8 to limit patients to two visitors at a time and turn away visitors younger than 13. While emergency rooms are seeing more patients with respiratory illnesses, hospital representatives said their capacity remains stable. Doctors encourage residents to get a flu shot if they haven’t already, and to be more cautious. “We really need to be vigilant about handwashing,” Vieder said. “Cough or sneeze into your sleeve, not your closed hand. And we encourage you to stay home or keep your kids home if they don’t feel good.” As of Dec. 27, about 24% of Michiganders had received this year’s flu shot and 8.3% had received the latest COVID-19 booster. Justin Hicks is a statewide reporter for MLive.com. His coverage areas primarily include transportation, health and data reporting throughout Michigan. Justin led MLive's health coverage through the majority of... more