Flu Season Winds Down With Lower Than Average Visits in Early April

Outpatient visits for flu like illness are on a steady decline in the United States, indicating reduced activity of respiratory viruses including flu, COVID, and respiratory syncytial virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports the first week of April showed that visits for respiratory illness with fever plus a cough or sore throat fell to 2.8%, just below the national baseline of 2.9%. Positive labs for flu were down 7.7% since the previous week. The highest activity levels for the week were reported in North Dakota with most other states experiencing low or minimal activity. Additionally, COVID-19 data from CDC shows a downward trend as well with fewer hospitalizations, deaths, and emergency department visits. 

Look at the season overall: The 2023-2024 influenza season, which began in October, peaked in late December 2023, and so far CDC estimates that there have been at least 33 million illnesses, 360,000 hospitalizations, and 23,000 deaths from flu including 138 influenza-associated pediatric deaths.