February 10, 2025- Levels of influenza nationwide are now at the highest they have been since the peak of the 2009 swine flu pandemic, according to figures published Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and CBS News. Close to 8% of visits for respiratory illness to outpatient providers, including urgent cares and doctors offices, reported to the CDC this week were people sick with influenza in the virus’ second wave this winter. This flu season is now the worst on record in the CDC’s influenza surveillance network since late 2009, during the swine flu pandemic.
While most flu seasons usually see a resurgence of infections after the winter holidays, this winter’s flu wave has now reached unusually high levels compared to recent years. That has driven overall levels of respiratory illness to “very high” levels for the first time this season, despite a smaller and now-decreasing wave of COVID-19 in recent months.
Other influenza metrics are also far above recent peaks nationwide, including in emergency rooms and from testing laboratories. Data collected by the CDC from labs found 31.6% of tests last week were positive for influenza, close to double the 18.2% at last season’s peak, according to CBS News.
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