Flu activity in the United States has declined for the second week and a row, suggesting levels have peaked, though hospitalizations and other markers remain high and deaths in kids are nearing 100, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in its latest weekly update.
Test positivity at clinical labs is trending downward but is still high, at 24.5%. Outpatient visits for flulike illness also declined but, at 5.8%, are still well above the national baseline for the 13th straight week. States still in the very high range include Michigan, Ohio, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine.
The cumulative hospitalization rate is at its highest level since the 2010-11 flu season.
The CDC estimates that 21,000 people have died from flu this season, and the pace of flu deaths in the latest reporting week outpaced those for COVID-19.
Twelve more pediatric flu deaths were reported, putting the season’s total at 98. All were linked to influenza A. Of 11 subtyped strains, 8 were the 2009 H1N1 virus, 2 were H3N2, and 1 involved a coinfection with both strains.
COVID continues to drop amid shifting variant landscape
For COVID, emergency department (ED) visits are low with a continuing decline, and test positivity remains stable, at 4.3%, the CDC said. Wastewater levels are at the moderate range, and though detections are declining for all regions, they are highest in the Midwest, followed by the South.
In its latest variant tracking update, the CDC said that, over the past 2 weeks the LP.8.1 Omicron subvariant, at 42% of detections, has now edged above the XEC subvariant, which now makes up 31% of detections. LP.8.1 is a descendant of KP.1.1.3, which is part of the JN.1 lineage.
