NC announces first flu death of 2026 season. Here’s when to get a flu shot
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The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services reported the first flu-related death of the 2026-27 season.
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The department said an adult in central North Carolina died of flu complications in a press release on Thursday, Oct. 8.
North Carolina reported 335 flu-related deaths in 2025, including 10 pediatric deaths in 2025. The 2025 season carried with it the third-highest number of deaths recorded in North Carolina since broad reporting began in 2009. The first flu death of 2025 was also announced in early October last year.
The 2025 flu season was characterized by a “superflu.” The H3N2 strain and subvariant K were found to be particularly contagious and led to high hospitalizations and hospital visitations being tightened across the state, the Charlotte Observer reported at the time.
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Flu, COVID and RSV vaccines are now available across the state. Ideally, everyone should be vaccinated by the end of October when respiratory illness season begins, according to the Center for Disease Control. But it isn’t too late to get one afterwards, the Observer previously reported.
NCDHHS recommends vaccination during the fall season, before respiratory illness numbers spike.
NCDHHS monitors respiratory illnesses using several dashboards:
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