Game Over for the Baseline: Influenza Hospitalization Patterns Before, During, and After the COVID-19 Pandemic (FluSurv-NET, 2009–2025)
Hayden D. Hedman · 2026
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Description
Sixteen seasons of United States influenza hospital data form the basis of a 2026 analysis by Hayden D. Hedman. Working with FluSurv-NET records from 2009–2010 through 2024–2025, Hedman split the timeline into pre-pandemic, disruption, and recovery phases. The aim was to measure how burden, seasonal timing, and racial gaps changed across the COVID-19 years.
Peak weekly hospitalization rates nearly doubled after the pandemic, rising from 5.1 to 11.1 per 100,000 people. Seasonal peaks also arrived earlier, and yearly patterns grew far more regular. Black patients faced rates roughly twice those of White patients in every phase. Forecasting and anomaly tools both flagged recent seasons as departures from pre-pandemic expectations.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Hayden D. Hedman |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 43543 |
| LICENSE | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |