Flu activity continues to rise across most of the U.S., according to the CDC's FluView report published March 18.
Eight CDC updates:
1. For the week ending March 12, 2,082 lab-confirmed flu patients were hospitalized, up from the week before. The cumulative hospitalization rate was 5.9 per 100,000 population, up from 5.5 per 100,000 the prior week. The number of flu-related hospital admissions reported to HHS has increased for the past six weeks in a row.
2. No states reported very high flu activity, though Oklahoma reported high activity for the second week in a row. Kansas and Idaho reported moderate activity for the second consecutive week as well, while Iowa, New Mexico, North Dakota, Texas and Utah reported low activity. The remaining states reported minimal flu activity, while Washington, D.C., reported insufficient data.
3. Three new flu-associated pediatric deaths were reported, bringing the pediatric flu deaths total to 13 for the 2021-22 season.
4. Of all specimens tested in a clinical lab, 6.8 percent were positive for the flu for the week ending March 12, up from 5.8 percent the previous week.
5. The percentage of visits to an outpatient provider for respiratory illness was 1.7 percent for the week ending March 12, slightly higher than the previous week, but below the national baseline of 2.5 percent.
6. Nationwide, 0.7 percent of long-term care facilities reported more than one flu-positive test among residents for the week, up from 0.5 percent the week before.
7. The national flu, pneumonia and/or COVID-19 mortality rate is 10.8 percent, which sits above the epidemic threshold of 7.2 percent. Among the 1,890 deaths reported for the week, 1,215 had COVID-19 and 15 had flu listed as an underlying or contributing cause of death.
8. The CDC estimates that, so far this season, there have been at least 2.9 million flu illnesses, 28,000 hospitalizations and 1,700 related deaths.