Macon clinicians report severe flu season as cases surge statewide

Macon nurse practitioner Joy King says this is likely the worst flu season since 2020, and she predicts that the numbers aren’t going to decline anytime soon.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg,” said King, who works at Macon’s only CVS Minute Clinic and is president of the Georgia Nurses Association.

Historically, flu season peaks in mid-January through mid-February, according to Michael Hokanson with the Georgia Department of Public Health, North Central Health District. 

A map from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reflects an uptick of outpatient visits for respiratory illness throughout the country. 

On a scale from “minimal” to “very high,” nearly every state ranked “high” or “very high” by the end of 2025.

Georgia is among the states with the country’s highest level of flu. Others are Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama and Louisiana.

Roughly 10% of the patients that King diagnosed with the flu have been sent to a higher level of care, such as urgent care centers or emergency rooms. 

She encourages patients to get the vaccine, even if they’ve already recovered from a case of the flu. That’s because people can still be infected with a different strain of the respiratory illness. 

Sick in Georgia

According to the state’s weekly flu report, there were six influenza-associated deaths in the state, 416 Atlanta metro area influenza hospitalizations and 12 outbreaks in the week ending Jan. 3.

The number of hospitalizations increased by nearly 100 from the previous week.  

“It is definitely concerning that we’re already at this high level of activity before the historic peak,” Hokanson said, noting that it’s unclear whether the peak time is shifting. 

The number of flu cases is difficult to track in the Peach State, he said. Only deaths and outbreaks, defined as two or more individuals with a similar illness and the same exposure, are required to be reported.

Health care facilities are asked to voluntarily report flu data, which leads to “chronic underreporting,” Hokanson noted.  

The Melody made multiple requests to area hospitals for flu data but did not receive reports by the time of publication.

Why it’s worse this year

There isn’t one specific reason for the uptick in flu cases this season, according to Hokanson. 

Every year, scientists try to predict in the spring what flu virus strains should be included in the vaccination for the coming flu season. 

But a new strain of influenza virus was identified in August 2025, several months after the vaccination strains were chosen, according to officials at the CDC.

Still, it’s important that people get their flu shot, Hokanson said. Even without an exact strain match, the vaccine can still offer some level of protection, he said. 

Hokanson noted that flu vaccination numbers are down this year in the North Central Health District — another contributing factor for the particularly harsh flu season — based on data from the general population and school-based flu clinics.

King also said she has seen fewer people in Macon come in for their flu shot. 

She said she believes hypervigilance — masking, social distancing and washing hands — has gone down since the pandemic. 

“As a community, we’ve become a little bit less guarded,” King said.