Nationally, seasonal influenza activity remains elevated, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported for the weekend ending Feb. 16, the most recent reporting date.
The CDC classifies the season as a high severity season overall and for all age groups (children, adults, older adults) and is the first high severity season since 2017-2018.
During Week 7 , in the CDC’s weekly report, the center reports 2,486 viruses reported by public health laboratories, 2,383 were influenza A and 103 were influenza B.
Of the 1,788 influenza A viruses subtyped during Week 7, 1,115 (62.4%) were influenza A(H1N1)pdm09, 673 (37.6%) were A(H3N2), and zero were A(H5).
Two new confirmed cases of avian influenza A(H5) were reported to CDC this week. To date, human-to-human transmission of avian influenza A(H5) virus (H5 bird flu) has not been identified in the United States.
Outpatient respiratory illness decreased slightly this week compared to last week, but remains above the national baseline for the twelfth consecutive week. All 10 HHS regions are above their region-specific baselines. More here