Where flu cases are the highest

According to CDC, for the week ending Jan. 3, the flu test positivity rate was 24.7%, a decrease from the week before. However, rates of influenza-like illness (ILI) remained high across the country. Overall, 42 U.S. states and the District of Columbia had high or very high ILI activity, five states had moderate ILI activity, and three states had low ILI activity.

Flu hospitalizations also remain high, with almost 40,000 people admitted to hospitals with influenza for the week ending Jan. 3. During this time, the weekly hospitalization rate was 8.7 per 100,000 people while the cumulative hospitalization rate was 40.6 per 100,000 people. According to CDC, this is the second highest cumulative flu hospitalization rate for this time of the flu season since 2010-2011.

Flu-related deaths also increased slightly, growing to 1.9% for the week ending Jan. 3. This includes eight pediatric deaths from the flu, bringing the current season's total to 17.

So far, CDC estimates that there have been at least 15 million illnesses, 180,000 hospitalizations, and 7,400 deaths this flu season. 

Last year, Rao's team saw 800 flu-related hospitalizations over the course of the entire 2024-2025 flu season. However, "we've already seen close to 600 hospitalizations" in just the last three months, Rao said. "We really don't have signs that it is close to the end for us just yet."

"Our children's hospital is bursting at the seams. We're at capacity," said Daniel Park, medical director of the ED at UNC Children's Hospital. "We have to get creative in creating space in every crevice of the emergency department."

According to Katie Passaretti, chief infection prevention officer at Advocate Health, people who haven't received a flu shot are at the highest risk of being hospitalized. As of Dec. 27, CDC data shows that only around 43% of children and adults have received a flu shot this year.

"The majority of patients that end up in the hospital with flu are unvaccinated," Passaretti said. "That's a trend that we've seen in past years, and continue to see this year."

Although CDC typically recommends that everyone six months and older get vaccinated against the flu, HHS recently overhauled the childhood vaccination schedule, removing the flu shot from the list of recommended vaccines. Instead, federal health officials say that parents and patients should consult with their doctors before getting vaccinated.

"I can't begin to express how concerned we are about the future health of the children in this country, who already have been unnecessarily dying from the flu — a vaccine preventable disease," said Michele Slafkosky, executive director of an advocacy organization called Families Fighting Flu.

"Now, with added confusion for parents and healthcare providers about childhood vaccines, I fear that flu seasons to come could be even more deadly for our youngest and most vulnerable," she added.