• Posted December 17, 2025

Flu Season Starts Early in NYC as Cases Rise Fast

Flu season is getting an early start in New York City, with doctors reporting a sharp jump in cases weeks sooner than normal.

Data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that New York City and nearby areas such as Long Island and northern New Jersey had some of the nation’s highest levels of flu-like illness as of early December.

City health officials say flu infections are climbing quickly.

New York City’s acting health commissioner, Dr. Michelle Morse, urged people to get vaccinated and take precautions if they feel sick.

She said flu cases are “skyrocketing” in the nation’s largest city.

Poly Prep Country Day School, a private prep school in Brooklyn, closed its Dyker Heights campus, which serves nearly 900 middle and high school students, after roughly one-third of students were ill over just a few days, school officials said.

The closure allowed staff to conduct an “intensive disinfection" of the building before reopening, school spokeswoman Jennifer Slomack told The New York Times.

Experts say the flu strain spreading this season, known as H3N2, has changed in ways that may help it dodge parts of the immune system.

That could make this year’s flu shot less protective than in some seasons, though early data from the U.K. suggests that the vaccine can still help prevent serious illness and hospital stays.

“It’s earlier and faster this year, and the trajectory is much quicker than usual,” Dr. Bruce Farber, chief of public health and epidemiology at Northwell Health in Manhasset, N.Y., told The Times.

Emergency rooms across New York City are already feeling the impact.

During one week in late November, the number of ER patients diagnosed with flu jumped from 0.6% to 1.6%, then rose again to 3.4% the following week, according to city health data.

Last flu season was one of the worst in recent years, and this season may be following a similar path.

By the end of November, New York City had already recorded more than 10,000 lab-confirmed flu cases, a level that wasn’t reached until late December last year.

Statewide, more than 3,000 people have been hospitalized with the flu so far, nearly 10% of last season’s total.

Vaccination rates remain low. About 22% of New Yorkers outside the city have received a flu shot this season. In New York City, just over 25% of children ages 6 months and older are vaccinated, a 6.5% drop compared with the same time last year, health officials said.

More information

The Mayo Clinic has more on the flu.

SOURCE: The New York Times, Dec. 16, 2025