Flu activity is unusually low for this time of year, but may increase in the coming months, according to the CDC's FluView report for the week of Nov. 28.
Five things to know:
1. Nationwide, flu activity accounted for 1.6 percent of outpatient visits for the week ending Nov. 28, the same as last week. This is still below the national baseline of 2.6 percent.
2. No pediatric flu deaths have been reported for the 2020-21 flu season.
3. The national flu and pneumonia mortality rate is 12.8 percent, which sits above the epidemic threshold of 6.3 percent. These deaths are attributed to pneumonia, the flu or COVID-19.
4. Five states are reporting low flu activity for the week of Nov. 28, an increase from two the week prior. New Jersey, Arizona, Idaho, New Mexico and Pennsylvania are all reporting low activity, while the rest of the country is reporting minimal activity. No states reported high or very high flu activity for the week of Nov. 28.
5. The percentage of respiratory specimens testing positive for the flu at clinical laboratories was 0.1 percent for the week ending Nov. 28, a decrease from 0.2 percent for the week of Nov. 21.
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