Today the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in its weekly FluView update, confirmed 11 new pediatric deaths for the week ending on January 11, lifting the total during the 2024-25 flu season to 27.
Overall deaths are also increasing, with flu accounting for 1.5% of deaths in the second week of January. Seasonal influenza activity remains elevated across most of the country, with an 18.8% positivity rate, according to clinical lab data.
High flu activity expected for several more weeks
Outpatient visits for flu are trending down, but the CDC said this is not likely an indication that the flu season has peaked.
“Although some indicators have decreased or remained stable this week compared to last, this could be due to changes in healthcare seeking behavior or reporting during the holidays rather than an indication that influenza activity has peaked,” the CDC said. “The country is still experiencing elevated influenza activity, and that is expected to continue for several more weeks.”
The CDC estimates that there have been at least 12 million illnesses, 160,000 hospitalizations, and 6,600 deaths from flu so far this season.
Influenza A H1N1 and H3N2 are still the dominant strains this season, representing 43.1% and 56.8% of typed samples, respectively, from public health laboratories last week.
COVID-19 activity rising while RSV slows
In updates on the common respiratory illnesses of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection, flu, and COVID-19, the CDC said COVID-19 activity has increased in most areas of the country, while RSV activity has peaked in many regions.
Overall respiratory viral illness activity is high in the United States, with emergency department (ED) visits for all three diseases increasing. ED visits for COVID-19 are still low, while flu and RSV are classified as high.
Wastewater detections are high for COVID-19 and influenza, but now moderate for RSV. Genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 variants shows XEC accounted for 43% of COVID-19 cases, with LP.8.1 accounting for 15%, and KP.3.1.1 accounting for 14%.
Wastewater detections for COVID-19 viruses are highest in the upper Midwest, including Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Missouri, and the Northeast, including Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire.
COVID predictions for the next two weeks suggest that emergency department visits will remain at a lower level compared to prior winter seasons
“COVID predictions for the next two weeks suggest that emergency department visits will remain at a lower level compared to prior winter seasons,” the CDC said. “Influenza predictions suggest that emergency department visits will remain at a high to very high level for the next two weeks.”
