Flu activity higher than usual in Santa Cruz County as virus hits the state hard

A Santa Cruz County public health official said flu activity is higher than usual this winter, mirroring a severe flu season that has taken hold across the state. County Deputy Health Officer Karissa LeClair Cortez said that, although influenza prevalence has been trending down since the end of January, the county is still experiencing “a particularly heavy burden of flu.”

“We can see from the wastewater and from the human cases that are reported to us that the number of cases are up,” LeClair Cortez told Lookout. “We also have seen that there have been more hospitalizations and mortality.”

LeClair Cortez did not share specific numbers of hospitalizations or deaths caused by the flu in the county this season by publication time, but county public health spokesperson Corinne Hyland confirmed that death rates in the 2024-2025 flu season have been higher than last year, “both in the Bay Area as a whole as well as locally in Santa Cruz County.”

Data from the California Department of Public Health through Feb. 8, the most recent weekly report, show that the state saw a 26.7% positivity rate among flu tests, which is comfortably in the “high” activity level that ranges from 20% to 40%. That’s much higher than last year’s peak of about 19%. Additionally, the statewide percentage of deaths with flu listed on the death certificate peaked in January at over 3.4%, which is more than double last year’s peak of about 1.5%.

LeClair Cortez said it’s possible that because more people are getting infected, a larger number of those people will become seriously ill and require hospitalization. It’s also possible that the flu strain circulating right now could be somewhat more severe than in past seasons, but she added that with a generally small sample size in Santa Cruz County, it’s difficult to tell.

“We’re working with small numbers, so it’s hard to assess that data, especially on a local level,” she said. “We’ll have a better sense of that as we get more data towards the end of the season.”

When facing a challenge or, in this instance, a disease trending in the wrong direction, LeClair Cortez said she prefers to think about what are the things that the community can control and change and what it cannot. 

She said one of the main things that her office can do is encourage people to get vaccinated. LeClair Cortez said that this year only about 31% of the county population has gotten flu shots, “somewhat lower” than in previous seasons. 

We “want to get the message out to people that you can still get the flu vaccine,” she said, adding that flu season is expected to last through May. “It still is available through your health care provider, and it will still be effective. It doesn’t 100% mean that people will not get the flu, but it’s extremely effective at keeping people from getting severe disease or needing to go to the hospital.”

While flu shots remain free, LeClair Cortez pointed to changes in vaccine administration over the past few years, especially as it relates to the COVID vaccine, as a possible point of confusion over the flu vaccine, too. The COVID shot was free until fall 2023, the first time the cost was not covered by the federal government since the initial rollout in early 2021. This change did not apply to the flu vaccine.

“We want to be clear that flu vaccination is still readily covered by all insurances,” she said. 

LeClair Cortez also raised the issue of vaccine misinformation, which could also be contributing to lower uptake. She stressed that the flu shot is a very beneficial — and proven — tool both to the individual and the community at large.

“There has been a lot of confusion, and I think, reasonable questions that people have about vaccination,” she said. “The flu vaccination has been around for a really long time, and it’s extremely safe.”

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