New Hampshire Influenza Season 2025-26

[Commonground]

Keene
Flu outbreak prompts Winchester School closure Friday
1/31/25

WINCHESTER — As a seasonal flu outbreak hits Winchester school, district officials on Friday closed the school for a thorough cleaning.

Roughly half the school staff was absent because of illness this week, according to Superintendent David Ryan, who said seasonal and stomach flu are to blame.
Ryan said 60 students were absent on Monday and 80 on Wednesday. The district has about 360 kindergarten to 8th-grade students.

He added that 11 to 16 staff members were out sick this past week, including teachers, the school nurse, the counselor and paraeducators.

...https://www.sentinelsource.com/news/...469a0bea3.html

[Commonground]

Greenville and New Ipswich
MASCENIC REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT
1/30/25
... I wanted to call as early as possible to let staff, students, and families know that we will be canceling school tomorrow, Friday January 31, 2025. Unfortunately, the spread of illness has impacted staff, reaching a threshold where we can not safely open our buildings tomorrow. Additionally, the number of students out across the district continues to be of concern...

https://www.mascenic.org/live-feed#8105227

[Commonground]

First flu-related death of season confirmed in New Hampshire

Dec 9, 2025
MANCHESTER, N.H. —New Hampshire has recorded its first flu-related death of the season, even as influenza activity is low across the state.

The flu report for the week ending Nov. 22 from the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services showed one influenza-related death this season, a Belknap County adult. The death came as overall influenza activity in New Hampshire was sporadic.

... https://www.wmur.com/article/flu-dea...20925/69675908

[Commonground]

Sneezy season: Flu and other respiratory illnesses on the rise in New Hampshire
December 23, 2025

Excerpt:
Right now, cases of acute respiratory illness are concentrated in the most densely populated parts of the state. Rockingham County went from “moderate” to “high” activity over the past week. Belknap, Merrimack and Hillsborough counties remain in the “moderate” range, while the rest of the state is seeing “low” respiratory illness activity.
-snip-

Elliot Hospital, she said, has been seeing an increase in people visiting the emergency room seeking admission or getting tested for illness lately.

“We have anywhere from 20 to 30 bed holes at a time,” she said
Szopa said if people are able to call their primary care provider, that can help reduce the number of people visiting the emergency room.
“[It] can really not only save money but can help the hospitals in the long run,” she said.

...https://www.nhpr.org/nh-news/2025-12...-new-hampshire

[Commonground]

Flu activity surges in New Hampshire
Updated: 6:14 PM EST Jan 6, 2026

MANCHESTER, N.H. —
In the wake of the holidays, flu activity in New Hampshire is now classified as very high.

At least six people have died from the flu this season in New Hampshire, and health officials say hospitalizations are rising.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says this is the worst flu season in 25 years, and hospitals in southern New Hampshire are now fully involved in fighting it.

"They're operating at pretty much full capacity for their licensed beds," said Philip Alexakos, Manchester deputy public health director.

-snip-
DHHS said more flu data will likely be released this week.

continued: https://www.wmur.com/article/flu-act...10626/69928968

[Commonground]

Flu cases continue to rise as New Hampshire records 12 deaths so far this season
Updated: 4:46 PM EST Jan 9, 2026

New numbers from the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services show that flu cases rose more than 10%.

The flu report for the week ending Dec. 27 shows there have been 12 adult flu-related deaths reported this season, six in the past week.

State epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan said it isn't unusual to see sickness increase in December and then peak in the first two months of the new year. He said an average of about 40 people die each year from the flu. Last year, there were 85 deaths from influenza or related complications, including one child.

"That's a very high number," Chan said. "Whether or not we'll reach those levels, I think still remains to be seen. But I think there's an expectation that, given the flu activity we're seeing so far in New Hampshire, that this season is likely to be very close or similar to the level of severity that we saw last season."

... https://www.wmur.com/article/flu-cas...10926/69960950