Flu activity declines but remains elevated

For the week ending March 15, the flu test positivity rate was 13.2%. Meanwhile, the COVID-19 test positivity rate was 3.4%, and the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) test positivity rate was 5.5%.

Although flu rates have declined steadily over the last few weeks, several parts of the country are still reporting significant flu activity.

Across the United States, 20 jurisdictions reported "high" levels of influenza-like illness (ILI) activity, and 13 jurisdictions reported "moderate" levels of ILI activity for the week ending March 15. No jurisdictions reported "very high" ILI activity, down from six the previous week. Although outpatient visits for ILI have decreased to 3.9%, the rate has been above the national baseline of 3% for 16 consecutive weeks.

Weekly hospitalization rates for flu, COVID-19, and RSV have been on a downward trend since February. For the week ending March 15, the flu hospitalization rate was 2.6 per 100,000 people. The COVID-19 and RSV hospitalization rates were both 1.3 per 100,000 people.

So far this flu season, CDC estimates that there have been at least 43 million illnesses, 560,000 hospitalizations, and 24,000 deaths. There have also been 151 pediatric flu deaths this season, including 17 deaths reported during the week ending March 15.

On March 13, FDA issued new recommendations for the flu vaccine for the 2025-2026 season without the input of VRBPAC. Instead, experts from FDA, CDC, and the Department of Defense made the recommendations after reviewing flu surveillance data from the U.S. and around the world.

For the 2025-2026 flu season, FDA recommends that the flu vaccines be trivalent and target two strains of influenza A and one strain of influenza B. "The FDA anticipates that there will be an adequate and diverse supply of approved trivalent seasonal influenza vaccines" for the next flu season, the agency said in a statement.

In response to the recommendation, Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and a VRBPAC member, said that he was "glad that they've come out with the influenza recommendation in a timely manner."

However, several health experts have said the cancellation of the VRBPAC meeting is still concerning and that the future of the advisory committee is unclear.

"I don't know what the future of VRBPAC is," said Anna Durbin, director of the Center for Immunization Research at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and a current VRBPAC member. "I am not sure people at the FDA know."