CALIFORNIA STATE – This has been an especially bad flu season. And sadly, as the virus spikes throughout California, the season is turning increasingly deadly.
State respiratory virus tracking data shows 262 cumulative influenza deaths so far this 2025-2026 season (week ending Feb. 8, 2026).
At the moment captured in the dashboard, influenza was responsible for about 0.70% of all deaths statewide (a measure based on death certificate attribution), a level that has been trending upward in recent weeks.
Public health experts say the broader national picture helps explain what Californians are feeling on the ground: the CDC has characterized the 2025-26 flu season as “moderately severe”, with influenza A(H3N2) dominating early in the season.
It’s that rarer subtype that’s driving the current surge.
Health reporting across California has pointed to a fast-moving strain of influenza A(H3N2), including a widely discussed “subclade K” that has been linked to sharp winter upticks and heightened concern about spread (even when vaccines still help reduce severe outcomes).
The “cumulative deaths” count on California’s respiratory virus tracking reflects deaths attributed to influenza on death certificates (and dashboards like this often update as reports are finalized). That makes it a useful indicator of severity and trend direction, but it can lag and can be revised.
Still, with 262 lives lost already this season on the dashboard snapshot provided, it’s a sobering marker that the winter wave is having real consequences.
What can you do? The CDC urges common sense steps, like getting a flu shot, washing hands, and staying in if you’re stick. Basically, the 2020 playbook all over again!
If you’re feeling sick, officials say to talk to a clinician right away. As the sad death count show, flu is serious. Make sure to get treated if you suspect you have it.
