The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed on Friday (7/2) that the rate of influenza transmission in the United States has reached or is nearing its highest level in the last 15 years and continues to increase.
According to the CDC, this season there have been at least 24 million cases of the flu, including 310,000 hospitalizations and 13,000 deaths. In its weekly flu surveillance report, the agency said seasonal influenza activity continues to increase across the United States.
According to the report, 7.8 percent of outpatient visits to facilities during the week ending Feb. 1 were for influenza-like illnesses. That figure has been rising steadily for the past two weeks, from 7 percent in the week ending Jan. 25 and 5.8 percent the week before.
In the week ending February 1, 8 percent of emergency department visits ended with a diagnosis of influenza, compared with 1 percent of patients diagnosed with COVID-19 and 0.5 percent with respiratory syncytial virus.
According to CDC data, the number of norovirus outbreaks in the United States has also reached an extremely high number this winter.
The CDC could not immediately be reached for comment.
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