All states have reported minimal flu activity for the third week in a row, according to the CDC's FluView report for the week ending Feb. 13.
Six updates:
1. At least 173 known flu hospitalizations have occurred since Oct. 1, 2020, according to FluSurv-NET sites. This equals a cumulative hospitalization rate of 0.6 per 100,000 people, which is lower than average. During the 2011-12 season, the rate was 1.6 times higher at this time in the season.
2. The percentage of visits to an outpatient provider for flu-like illness was 1.1 percent for the week ending Feb. 13. This figure remains below the national baseline of 2.6 percent.
3. No new pediatric flu deaths were reported for the week ending Feb. 13. In total, one pediatric flu death has been recorded for the 2020-21 flu season.
4. The national flu and pneumonia mortality rate is 22.3 percent, which sits above the epidemic threshold of 7.2 percent. The majority of these deaths are attributed to COVID-19.
5. All states and Washington, D.C., reported minimal flu activity for the week ending Feb. 13. This excludes Texas, for which insufficient data was available.
6. The percentage of respiratory specimens testing positive for the flu at clinical laboratories was 0.1 percent for the week ending Feb. 13, the same as the week prior.