In a multi-week update released today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said seasonal influenza and RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) activity is low nationwide and COVID-19 -19) activity is increasing but decreasing.
The COVID-19 test positivity rate fell to 11.6% last week from 13.4% the previous week, according to the weekly update for the week ending September 21.
Other coronavirus indicators also fell, but only by a small amount. The emergency department visit rate fell from 1.7% to 1.4%, and the number of hospitalizations per 100,000 people fell to 4.0 from 4.1 the previous week. In its biweekly variant update, the CDC noted that the KP.3.1.1 Omicron variant accounts for 52.7% of infections, the same as it did two weeks ago.
Wastewater levels for COVID-19 remain high but low for RSV and influenza. Of the influenza cases identified through laboratory testing, H1N1 accounts for 53.5%, H3N2 accounts for 46.5%, and influenza B accounts for 1.2%. The influenza test positivity rate for the week ending September 21 was 0.6%.
The respiratory disease outpatient consultation rate also remained unchanged at 1.9%.
Of note, the CDC recorded no new human infections with the new influenza A virus, bringing the season total to just 23.
Vaccine uptake rate is very low
According to the CDC, in the early weeks after the flu vaccine became available, 9.6% of adults reported receiving the flu vaccine, and 4.5% of adults reported receiving the most recent 2024-25 novel coronavirus infection. reported receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.
Among adults aged 75 years and older, 34.0% reported having ever received an RSV vaccine.
