US flu activity declined steadily last week, with rates of influenza-like illness (ILI) dropping below the baseline level of 3% for the first time in 19 weeks, but flu-related deaths in children climbed to 188, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in its weekly update today.
The percentage of outpatient visits for ILI, or respiratory illness, dropped from 3.2% the previous week to 2.5% last week (see CDC graph below). Three US regions are below their baseline levels, down from five the week before.
No jurisdictions are reporting high or very high flu activity, as opposed to two the previous week. Five have moderate activity. Test positivity for flu is now at 7.6%, down from 9.7%. Hospitalizations and deaths are both down, but the cumulative hospitalization rate for this season—124.3 patients per 100,000 population—is the highest since the 2010-11 season.
The season has been classified as high severity, the first high-severity season since 2017-18. The CDC estimates there have been at least 46 million flu cases, 590,000 hospitalizations, and 26,000 deaths so far this season.
The CDC confirmed 20 new pediatric flu deaths, bringing the season's total to 188. This now tops the 2022-23 total of 187 and approaches the 207 deaths confirmed for the 2023-24 flu season. Nineteen of the new deaths were from influenza A and 1 from influenza B. Of the 14 influenza A cases for which scientists performed subtyping, 9 were caused by the H1N1 strain, and 5 were H3N2.
COVID-19 subvariant LP.8.1 increases
Meanwhile, COVID-19 levels, already low, continue to ebb, according to CDC data updates today. Wastewater detections last week remained generally low throughout the country. The percentage of overall deaths that were caused by COVID last week was 0.7% (down slightly from 0.8%), similar to the 0.6% level for flu.
The CDC's variant proportion update shows that the LP.8.1 subvariant continues to increase and now causes 64% of infections.
In its update on the three leading respiratory illnesses—flu, COVID, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)—the CDC notes that, nationally, flu (7.6%) and RSV (2.7%) test positivity decreased from the previous week, while COVID-19 (3.6%) remained stable. Wastewater levels for influenza A and COVID-19 are low, while for RSV they remain very low.
