Of more than 96,000 specimens tested for influenza at U.S. clinical laboratories for the week ending Jan. 7, 8.6 percent were positive, the CDC's latest FluView report shows. This figure hovered around 25 percent for several consecutive weeks in December.
Overall, most areas continue to see flu activity decline.
Five more notes from the report:
1. About 12,400 patients with lab-confirmed flu were admitted to a hospital for the week ending Jan. 7. For reference, the week ending Dec. 3 saw nearly 26,000 flu patient admissions.
2. Five influenza-associated pediatric deaths were reported for the week ending Jan. 7, with a total of 79 pediatric flu deaths in the 2022-23 season.
3. About 4 percent of outpatient visits were for influenza-like illness — meaning fever plus cough or sore throat, not lab-confirmed flu — in the first week of January, marking the sixth straight week of decline.
4. The CDC estimates there have been at least 24 million flu cases, 260,000 hospitalizations and 16,000 deaths so far this season. See how flu deaths compare to past seasons here.
5. Twenty-three states and regions reported high or very high flu activity levels for the week ending Jan. 7, down from 39 that reported the same a week prior.