HealthTop story
Flu season is starting early in Oregon, and seniors are hit hardest
Flu tests and hospitalizations climbed in late October
- Over 10%
- of flu tests were positive, Oct. 25 to 31
- Nearly 40
- hospitalizations that week in three Portland-area counties
- 81
- of 145 hospitalizations were patients over 65
Source: KEZI
If you've felt a tickle in your throat, you're not alone. Flu season is picking up early in Oregon, and Dr. Melissa Sutton, the Oregon Health Authority's medical director for respiratory viral pathogens, calls it "an unusually early flu season."
Sutton says early doesn't necessarily mean severe. The vaccine looks well matched to this year's flu, and the feds have forecast a moderately severe season. The hospital counts cover only Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington counties.
- Highest positive-test rates: central, eastern and southern Oregon
- Oregonians who got a flu shot in 2025-26: 30%
- Health care workers vaccinated: 52%, down from 85% in 2019-20
- Nursing facility workers vaccinated last year: 25%
Flu shot rates were low last season
Source: Willamette Week
View as table
| Value | |
|---|---|
| Nursing facility workers | 25% |
| All Oregonians | 30% |
| Health care workers | 52% |
Dr. Patrick Luedtke, a senior public health officer, says trouble breathing means it's time to get care: "You should go see somebody." We suggest getting your flu shot soon.
