The flu is slated for a 2022-23 comeback. Are you ready?

Public health officials in Washington state continue to urge people to get vaccinated as they brace for another possible resurgence of Covid-19 and the flu this fall and winter.

Covid hospitalizations and deaths have been trending down in King County and throughout Washington, but health officials worry cases could tick back up as people head indoors in the colder, wetter months ahead.

In preparation, they want people to get up to date with Covid vaccines and boosters. Similarly, they're urging people to get their flu shots — something that can be done at the same time as a Covid vaccination, if you're so inclined.

When pandemic precautions were in place for Covid (masks and social distancing), a side effect was greater protection against the flu. Previous flu seasons were mild. As those measures phase out, there is heightened concern that the flu could come back in a big way.

"Although we can't know in advance when an influenza season will take off or peak or how long it will last, it's a safe bet to expect that this flu season will be more severe than the past two, based on what happened in southern hemisphere countries during their recent flu season," a spokesperson with Public Health Seattle & King County told KUOW. "In the US, flu typically starts to take off in November and December and lasts through spring, but some years [it] arrives earlier."

"Based on the number of deaths that are seen nationally, we in King County would expect an estimated 80 deaths per season in a very mild flu season to over 400 in a very severe one. Reported deaths are just the tip of the iceberg. In the US each year, there are millions of influenza illnesses and doctor visits, as well as tens of thousands of hospitalizations each year."

This week, Snohomish County reported their first flu death since 2020 — a Bothell woman in her 70s. The death is recent, but happened before October, so it will be included in the 2021-22 flu season, not the current one.

King County reported five flu deaths in the 2021-22 flu season.

Across Washington state, there were 21 flu deaths in the 2021-22 season.

The recent numbers for Washington state are down from before pandemic measures arrived. The 2017-18 flu season had 296 flu deaths, and the 2016-17 season had 278.

Paige Browning contributed to this report.