Flu and flu-related sickness killed 36 Alaskans last winter

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By James Brooks

Alaska Beacon

Influenza-related illnesses killed 36 Alaskans during the 2025-2026 flu season, the Alaska Section of Epidemiology said Friday in a regular annual report summarizing the prior flu season.

The report was released alongside a bulletin recommending flu shots for all Alaskans that are at least six months old who do not have medical conditions affected by a flu shot.

The state’s weekly flu report shows cases of flu have been on the rise since mid-August.

Flu season in Alaska runs from October through July, and in the most recent season, “Alaska experienced more influenza cases and deaths than during each of the previous 3 years,” epidemiologists said.

According to state data, only 22.7% of Alaskans that are at least 19 years old were vaccinated for the flu during the prior flu season, less than half the estimated national average.

That likely contributed to the severity of the last flu season as did a November spike in cases, which mirrored national trends, the report stated.

“The combination of concentrated transmission, circulating virus characteristics, low vaccine coverage rates, and decreased (vaccine effectiveness) might help explain the relative severity of the 2025–26 season,” the report said.

Influenza-related illnesses killed 25 Alaskans in the 2024-25 flu season and 10 Alaskans in the 2023-24 season.

Precautions intended to halt the spread of COVID-19 almost entirely eliminated flu illnesses and flu-related deaths in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

• James Brooks Cascade is a longtime Alaska reporter who lives in Juneau. He previously worked at the Anchorage Daily News, Juneau Empire, Kodiak Mirror and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. Alaska Beacon is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.