Sporadic flu activity continues across the U.S., with four states reporting moderate levels, according to the CDC's FluView report published Feb. 11.
Seven other CDC updates:
1. No states reported very high or high flu activity, while Maryland, Wyoming, New Mexico and Oklahoma reported moderate activity. Iowa, Minnesota, Mississippi and Missouri reported low activity. Forty-two states reported minimal flu activity, while Washington, D.C., reported insufficient data.
2. The percentage of visits to an outpatient provider for respiratory illness was 1.7 percent for the week ending Feb. 5, down from 2 percent the previous week and below the national baseline of 2.5 percent.
3. For the week ending Feb. 5, 993 lab-confirmed flu patients were hospitalized, up from the week prior. The cumulative hospitalization rate was 4.5 per 100,000 population, up from 4.4 per 100,000 the prior week.
4. Of all specimens tested in a clinical lab, 2 percent were positive for flu virus for the week ending Feb. 5, up from 1.7 percent the previous week. The stability indicates flu virus circulation has remained at similar levels over the past two weeks, even as overall levels of respiratory illness have declined, according to the CDC.
5. Nationwide, 0.4 percent of long-term care facilities reported more than one flu-positive test among residents for the week, down from 0.5 percent the previous week.
6. The national flu, pneumonia and/or COVID-19 mortality rate is 26.3 percent, which sits above the epidemic threshold of 7.2 percent. Among the 5,043 deaths reported for the week, 4,287 had COVID-19 and 18 had flu listed as an underlying or contributing cause of death.
7. No flu-associated pediatric deaths occurred during the week ending Feb. 5. A total of five pediatric flu deaths occurring during the 2021-22 season have been reported to the CDC.