For the second week in a row, 11 US children died of influenza, and while flu activity remains elevated across the country, several key flu indicators are slowly declining, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports today in its FluView recap of the week ending March 7.

Test positivity for flu was 15.3%, down slightly from 15.8%, and 3.7% of health care visits were for respiratory illness, down from 3.9% the previous week. In total, 9,130 people were hospitalized for flu, compared with 10,763 the week before. Flu deaths as a percentage of all deaths declined to 0.5% from 0.7% the previous week.

The cumulative flu hospitalization rate in FluSurv-NET is the third highest since the 2010-11 season. Children have the second-highest cumulative hospitalization rate for that age-group since 2010-11. The percentage of outpatient visits due to respiratory illness was 3.7%, down from 3.9% the previous week.

Influenza A viruses continue to dominate but are declining as influenza B activity varies by region. Of the 1,667 influenza A viruses that underwent additional genetic testing since September 2025, 92.5% were A(H3N2) subclade K.

So far this season, 101 children have died of flu, roughly 85% of whom were unvaccinated. The CDC estimates that there have been at least 27 million flu infections, 350,000 hospitalizations, and 22,000 deaths since fall.

The CDC has classified the current flu season as “high severity” for children and “moderate severity” for adults and older adults.

RSV season may extend into April

In its Respiratory Illnesses Data Channel update today, the CDC said the amount of acute respiratory illness causing people to seek care is low. Because respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) activity started later than expected in most of the United States, the season may extend into April in many areas, it predicted. 

Infants and children younger than 4 years have the highest rates of emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations. Overall, ED visits for flu and RSV are moderate, while those for COVID-19 are very low and falling. Deaths related to COVID-19 are low, at 0.5%, and are very low for RSV, at 0.1%.

WastewaterSCAN notes high levels of influenza A and B, RSV, and human metapneumovirus and moderate levels for SARS-CoV-2.