This week 14 US children were confirmed to have died of influenza, up from 11 in each of the previous two weeks, as overall flu activity remained elevated but declined in most parts of the country, with influenza A decreasing and influenza B trends varying by region, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported today in its FluView update for the week ending March 14.
The new flu-related deaths in children bring the season’s total to 115, compared with 293 for all of last season.
Test positivity for flu was 12.7% last week, down from 15.3% the previous week and 15.8% the week before. Health care visits for respiratory illnesses dropped to 3.3% this week, down from 3.7% the previous week, and 7,348 people were hospitalized for flu, compared with 9,130 the week before. As a percentage of all deaths, flu deaths remained at 0.5% over the past two weeks.
FluSurv-NET data show the cumulative influenza-associated hospitalization rate is the third highest since 2010-11, with children younger experiencing the second-highest rate for that age-group over the same period.
Influenza A(H3N2) remains the predominant strain this season, with 92.7% of 1,754 collected virus samples that underwent additional genetic testing belonging to subclade K.
The CDC estimates at least 28 million illnesses, 360,000 hospitalizations, and 22,000 deaths related to flu have occurred this season.
Influenza severity is currently classified as high in children and moderate in adults, including older adults.
COVID decreasing; RSV remains elevated
In a separate respiratory virus update today, the CDC reports that rates of health care visits for acute respiratory illness are low overall.
COVID-19 activity is decreasing in most areas across the country but remains elevated in some regions. Wastewater testing, which can be used to detect infectious diseases circulating in a community, shows very high levels in Michigan and Mississippi and high levels in the Upper Midwest and parts of the Mid-Atlantic.
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) activity remains elevated but has peaked in many areas, with national wastewater testing showing moderate levels across most of the country and very high levels in the Upper Midwest and Nevada.
