Influenza caused 9 million illnesses, 5,000 deaths last flu season, CDC says

Since the coronavirus pandemic began, skeptics have falsely claimed that influenza cases and deaths were being miscategorized as COVID-19.

Influenza activity in the U.S. dropped dramatically the past two flu seasons, a development that may have fueled many such false claims. But one social media post suggests there were no flu cases at all last year.

"In the USA already there are record high cases of flu. That’s right, flu," a woman said in a video shared on Instagram Dec. 6. "And last year, there were none at all, on the whole planet."

She continued, "It’s almost as if flu was counted as COVID last year."

The Instagram post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

Although COVID-19 and influenza are both respiratory illnesses, they are caused by different viruses. Though they share some similar symptoms, COVID-19 can spread more easily and cause more severe illness in some people. Different tests are required for each to confirm an infection.

Flu season is considered to be from September to May, peaking between December and February. This season is off to a strong start. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in its latest report Dec. 9 that influenza activity is high nationwide. So far, the agency estimates there have been 13 million illnesses, 120,000 hospitalizations and 7,300 deaths.

In a Dec. 5 press briefing, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said "hospitalizations for flu continue to be the highest we have seen at this time of year in a decade."

Although influenza activity, which had essentially disappeared in the 2020-21 flu season, remained historically low in 2021-22, it’s wrong to say there were no cases worldwide last year. And there’s no evidence that influenza cases were wrongly being recorded as COVID-19.

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The CDC said the steep decline in 2020-21 was  largely because of COVID-19 mitigation measures, such as social distancing, lockdowns, school closures and mask wearing put in place during the height of the pandemic. 

As pandemic restrictions eased, flu activity rebounded in the 2021-22 season, though not to levels seen in years past. The CDC estimates there were 9 million illnesses from influenza, leading to 100,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths last season. That’s far from the 36 million cases, 390,000 hospitalizations and 25,000 deaths estimated in the 2019-20 flu season before the pandemic escalated.

Meanwhile, as flu activity is rising, so are COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths, CDC data shows. Cases across the U.S. are up 44% in the 14-day period ending Dec. 14. Deaths, with a daily average of 451, were up 71% in that same period.

An Instagram video claims that there were no influenza cases in the world last year, and suggested that’s because they were being counted as COVID-19 cases.

But influenza and COVID-19 are caused by two different viruses, requiring two different tests to diagnose. CDC data shows that although last year’s flu season numbers paled compared with previous years, there were about 9 million illnesses, 100,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths in the U.S. alone in the 2021-2022 season. We rate this claim False.