Each flu season, local, state, and national health departments each keep track of a group of metrics that help tell the story of how severe the current flu season is compared to previous seasons.
At Rochester Regional Health, we compile this data to give you insight into the 2022-2023 flu season for Monroe County, NY and New York State.
Positive cases (Monroe County): 22 this week (11,544 total)
Positive cases (New York State): 1,929 (323,040 total)
Hospitalizations statewide this week: 133
Deaths statewide due to flu this season: 350 (11 pediatric)
Flu season began on October 15, 2022 and is slated to end at the end of May 2023.
During the 2021-2022 flu season, the CDC and New York State Department of Health extended their influenza surveillance through the end of June due to a late increase in flu cases.
As a way to compare the current flu season to flu seasons in the past, data from previous flu season can be found below for the current week as compared to the same week in years past.
Current flu season (2022-2023): 1,929 cases this week
2021-2022 flu season: 2,802 cases this week
2020-2021 flu season: 99 cases this week
2019-2020 flu season: 6,075 cases this week
2018-2019 flu season: 7,158 cases this week
A more comprehensive look at the last 5 years of influenza data in New York is available through the New York State Flu Tracker.
One of the toughest parts about the flu is the lingering symptoms. People diagnosed with the flu often have:
Symptoms are often similar between flu, COVID-19, and RSV. Ask your primary care provider if you have questions about any of these illnesses.
There are a number of methods to help relieve symptoms of flu, including drinking liquids to keep your body hydrated and strong to fight the virus, using decongestants and antihistamines to relieve swollen nasal passages, and lozenges for sore throats.
There are also several anti-viral drugs available for patients who test positive for flu, including Tamiflu, Relenza, Rapivab, and Xofluza.
One of the important pieces of advice from doctors to people with flu is to rest at home.
“Staying home will help in two ways,” said Maryrose Laguio-Vila, MD, an Infectious Disease specialist with Rochester Regional Health. “It will prevent you from spreading the flu to other people – keeping them healthy and reducing the potential number of people who might need to visit an urgent care or hospital for their symptoms. Staying home will also allow you to rest better, leading to a full recovery.”
Each year, scientists around the world compile data about influenza from different countries, then create a new vaccine with the goal of protecting the public against the four most common variants of the flu.
The vaccine is then referred to the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC), which makes the recommendation on how to proceed. The vaccine developed for the 2022-2023 flu season is similar to the flu vaccine from the previous flu season, but is also matched with currently circulating flu viruses. This resulted in the addition of two updates with influenza A(H1N1) and the influenza B(H3N2) vaccine virus components, according to the CDC.
Flu vaccines in general reduce the risk of influenza infection by 40-60 percent.
“Flu shots are available at most local pharmacies, primary care offices, and community health clinics,” Dr. Laguio-Vila said. “This is a simple but powerful way to ensure you are protecting your health.”
People looking for the nearest location that offers a flu vaccine can find it using the Vaccines.gov search tool.
Some people who get their flu shot experience side effects, which may include:
These side effects typically last 24-48 hours, and allow the person who got the flu shot to go back to their regular daily activities.
