TAMPA, Fla. — If it feels like everyone around you is sick, you're not alone. According to the CDC more than 11 million people have gotten the flu this season.
WATCH: Tampa Bay area hospitals weigh in on flu cases as numbers grow nationwide
Tampa Bay 28 anchor Lauren St. Germain covers medical news and wanted to get a better idea of how many flu cases we are seeing here locally.
She reached out to major hospital systems around the Tampa Bay area, and here are their responses.
BayCare
- BayCare went from about 1,000 flu cases across its lab testing (includes urgent care locations & emergency departments) in November to nearly 4,000 in December. As of January 7th, Baycare has seen nearly 600 flu cases.
- The majority of cases are Influenza A, largely fueled by a mutation in the H3N2 flu subtype.
BayCare flu statistics for the past 14 days:
- East Region hospitals (includes St. Joseph’s Hospital, St. Joseph's Children’s Hospital, St. Joseph’s Women’s Hospital, St. Joseph's Hospital-North, St. Joseph's Hospital-South)
- 684 positive patients with 97 admissions
- West Region hospitals (includes Mease Countryside Hospital, Mease Dunedin Hospital, Morton Plant Hospital, Morton Plant North Bay Hospital, St. Anthony’s Hospital)
- 619 positive patients with 152 admissions.
- Polk County hospitals (includes Bartow Regional Medical Center, BayCare Hospital Wesley Chapel, South Florida Baptist, and Winter Haven Hospital, Winter Haven Women's Hospital)
- 249 positive patients with 44 admissions
Tampa General Hospital
Tampa General Hospital says in its Emergency Department, doctors saw an average of 26 cases of Flu A+ per day in the emergency department, with 801 total cases in the month of December. In January, doctors are seeing an average of 33 cases of Flu A+ per day in the Emergency department with a total of 230 cases so far. They said they are seeing a 21% increase in January over December in the Emergency Department.
AdventHealth
In the past two weeks, AdventHealth says it has had a 35 percent flu positivity rate (number of positive tests/total flu tests) across its AdventHealth Centra Care facilities in Florida. That's a total of 3,592 cases.
HCA Florida
HCA says it is seeing an increase in the number of patients with flu symptoms in its 39 emergency rooms across the west coast of Florida.
Sarasota Memorial
Sarasota Memorial says doctors have seen the expected rise in admitted patients in December, and the number of hospitalized patients who tested positive for flu so far this season is slightly higher than the same period last year. In November-December 2025, Sarasota Memorial had 191 patients (admitted to one of two hospitals) with positive flu tests, compared to 155 in November-December 2024. The majority of cases Sarasota Memorial doctors are seeing this year are influenza A.
Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital
The hospital said 13 patients tested positive for the flu in the past 24 hours and the number of flu cases doctors are seeing has remained high into the first week of January.
We will update this as more responses come in from other area hospitals.
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