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Flu, whooping cough in full force as dual outbreaks spread in Spokane County

Researchers at the University of Washington are studying whether tuberculosis coughs can be detectible through a cellphone app. (Courtesy of University of Washington)
By Amanda Sullender amandas@spokesman.com(509) 459-5455

Spokane County is facing a dual outbreak, with more influenza infections in the first two months of 2025 than entire seasons from the past several years and the state’s highest number of whooping cough cases.

The rise of flu in the Inland Northwest mirrors the uptick of cases seen across Washington and much of the United States. Through Feb. 22, there have been 524 hospitalizations and 23 deaths in Spokane County related to the flu during the 2024-25 flu season.

Cases of the respiratory virus peaked last month – jumping from 133 hospitalizations in December to 228 in January. Through the week ending Feb. 22, there were 148 hospitalizations in February. At its height, flu accounted for 8.3% of all hospital visits in Spokane County during the week ending Feb. 1. As of Feb. 22, that has fallen to 4.8%.

The more than 500 flu hospitalizations already exceed the number of such visits in any year since before the 2020-21 flu season when cases dramatically lowered amid COVID-19 lockdown efforts. Nationally, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has classified the flu as “high severity” for all age groups, which it has not done since the 2017-18 season.

Spokane flu cases are slightly outpaced by statewide data showing the disease at 4.9% of hospitalizations through Feb. 22 versus 4.8% locally. There have been 177 influenza-related deaths statewide this season.

Spokane Regional Health District health officer Francisco Velazquez said influenza was in “full force” in Spokane.

“We were talking about this very high peak of flu. Now we’re doing better, but we’re not out of the woods,” Velazquez said.

The SRHD leader also speculated that the number of flu cases is likely much higher than what the health district can report.

“That rise that we saw was a lot of the sicker patients in the emergency room. But there’s a curve of people that never made it to the emergency room or were diagnosed,” he said.

It is also not too late to receive a flu vaccination, Velazquez added. The shot can still provide protection against contracting the virus and lessen symptoms if infected.

Spokane County also remains in a whooping cough outbreak, with 101 cases reported so far this year. That’s the most cases of any county, beating out even King County, where only 60 people had fallen ill with the sickness also known as pertussis. Per capita, Spokane also has one of the highest rates of whooping cough cases of any county in Washington at 18.2 cases per 100,000 residents, second only to Adams County at 18.9. It also far outpaces the state average of 5.5 cases per 100,000 residents.

Velazquez said he anticipates whooping cough to continue at that rate for the near future.

“We do believe that this is going to continue cycling up and down probably for several weeks, if not a couple of months. And unfortunately, that means we will see more cases,” he said.