Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) records show the state is on track to end this flu season with the most hospitalizations in over a decade.

According to MDH weekly influenza statistics, the 2024-2025 season picked up around the end of October, with eight flu-related hospitalizations at the time. Since then, every week brought additional hospitalizations, sometimes multiplying week-over-week. By the end of December, 536 Minnesotans had been reported hospitalized.

A month and a half later, the latest weekly report from Feb. 8 listed 5,641 flu-related hospitalizations. That’s more than double the number of people (2,599) who had been hospitalized by mid-February 2024.

“I think for a lot of systems, it’s been challenging. There’s some wait times at the urgent cares, at the emergency rooms… and people struggling to get that appointment with their doctor because so many people are seeking the doctor,” said Hennepin Healthcare Dr. Krishnan Subrahmanian in an interview on Monday.

“We’re seeing it broadly, widely affecting all communities,” he said.

There’s only one flu season going back more than a decade that compares. In 2017-2018, a particularly virulent flu strain resulted in 6,288 hospitalizations in Minnesota, according to MDH data.

The 2024-2025 has become an unfortunately close rival with over 5,641 hospitalizations as the spread continues.

Dr. Subrahmanian said he hopes cases have peaked, but that remains to be seen.

“We can see flu spikes up through March. And so, that’s why it’s still an opportunity to get your flu vaccine, still an opportunity to, you know, if you’re sick and ill, maybe stay away from other people,” he said.

Minnesota also saw a spike in flu-related deaths in the past few weeks, according to the same weekly statistics. MDH reported 202 deaths as of Feb. 8.

In a post on GoFundMe, loved ones say a 31-year-old Minneapolis woman died last week after complications from the flu.

The fundraiser was posted to help family with memorial expenses, according to the page.