Commissioner Jutani convened the Department of Public Health Commissioner’s Advisory Committee and opened by pointing to the department’s public dashboard as evidence that respiratory viral activity is increasing statewide. “Flu is here and with us,” she said, and DPH said it would issue an imminent press release urging people who have not been vaccinated to get their flu shot.

Clinicians at Yale New Haven Children’s and Connecticut Children’s reported sharp rises in pediatric influenza and RSV admissions. Tom Murray of Yale New Haven Children’s said his system has about 80 percent uptake of Nirsevimab in eligible infants but is experiencing a surge of pediatric flu cases, including intensive care admissions. “What happened in New York is already here,” Murray said.

Connecticut Children’s infectious-disease lead said RSV counts have tripled and influenza has increased roughly sixfold in two weeks, though the team is still monitoring whether that rise will translate into higher admission severity. Hartford HealthCare’s Ulysses Wu reported internal data showing more H3N2 activity than H1N1 and said COVID hospitalizations are currently flat at his institutions.

DPH speakers cautioned that laboratory subtype typing lags and that many influenza A results are listed as “unspecified” on the dashboard; however, small numbers of typed isolates are H3N2. Jutani noted that hospitalizations often lag cases by weeks and reminded clinicians and the public that DPH had already reported its first flu death this season, an older adult in their 80s.

The department emphasized prevention measures beyond vaccination, including masking and accessible messaging for the public and clinicians. DPH said it would continue to update its dashboard and to coordinate messaging with hospitals and primary-care providers so that clinicians and families understand the expected benefits of vaccination — reducing hospital visits and severe outcomes even when vaccines do not fully prevent infection.

Next steps: DPH will issue the press release urging flu vaccination, continue near-real-time surveillance on its public dashboard, and work with hospital systems to track admissions and share data for clinical planning.