When flu hospitalizations peaked in each state last season
Every cold season has a high point, the week when the most people end up in the hospital with flu. We looked at CDC hospital data for the 2025–26 season to see when that week came in each state, and in Mississippi.
What the map shows
For each state and Washington, D.C., we found the week with the most new lab-confirmed flu hospital admissions per 100,000 people. The season runs from the week ending October 4, 2025 through the week ending October 3, 2026.
Most of the country peaked at almost the same time:
Week ending January 3, 2026: 35 states plus D.C.
Week ending December 27, 2025: 10 states, including Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Georgia, and Texas
Week ending February 7, 2026: 2 states (Washington and Oregon)
Week ending February 14, 2026: 3 states (California, Arizona, and Oklahoma)
For the U.S. as a whole, the peak was also the week ending January 3, 2026, at 12.59 admissions per 100,000 people, or 42,500 admissions that week.
Here in Mississippi
Mississippi peaked a week ahead of most of the country, in the week ending December 27, 2025. That week hospitals reported 247 new lab-confirmed flu admissions, or 8.44 per 100,000 people. About 85% of the state's hospitals reported that week.
Our neighbors: Alabama and Tennessee peaked the week ending January 3, 2026, at 9.83 and 12.14 per 100,000. Louisiana peaked the week ending December 27, 2025, at 15.09 per 100,000.
Across all states and D.C., the highest peak rate was Rhode Island's, at 26.09 per 100,000. The lowest was Washington's, at 4.30.
Where the numbers come from
CDC National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN), "Weekly Hospital Respiratory Data (HRD) Metrics by Jurisdiction," dataset ua7e-t2fy on data.cdc.gov: https://data.cdc.gov/resource/ua7e-t2fy.json. The field used is new lab-confirmed influenza hospital admissions per 100,000 people. The data were updated October 16, 2026 and retrieved October 21, 2026.
Things to keep in mind
This is hospital data, not FluView ILINet. CDC also tracks doctor visits for flu-like illness through a system called ILINet. This map doesn't use ILINet. It counts lab-confirmed flu patients admitted to hospitals, so it reflects flu cases that led to a hospital admission, not everyone who got sick.
Reporting varies. Hospitals report these numbers themselves, and not every hospital reports every week. Wyoming's peak week, for example, had about 71% of hospitals reporting. Figures can be revised later.
One week is a snapshot. The "peak week" is just the single highest week. Some states had several weeks close to that level.
Stanford Herb Shop is open Monday through Friday. Questions? Call us at (601) 947-0250.
Stanford Clinic & Herb Shop
Comments