- The CDC recorded at least 11 million flu cases, 120,000 hospitalizations, and 5,000 deaths during the 2025-26 flu season as of Dec. 27.
- Forty-eight states reported high flu levels with 8.2% of outpatient visits for flu, mainly due to influenza A H3N2 strain, the highest since 1997-98.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recorded at least 11 million flu cases during the 2025-26 flu season, according to data released Monday. Authorities also documented 120,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths from flu, as of Dec. 27. Nine children died of flu-related causes, according to the CDC.
Forty-eight states and U.S. jurisdictions reported high or very high levels of flu on Monday, up from 32 jurisdictions last week. Meanwhile, 8.2% of all outpatient doctors’ visits nationwide were for flu-like illnesses, the highest level recorded since the 1997-98 flu season, according to the CDC. Visits increased across all age groups.
The surge in cases was mainly fueled by a variant of influenza A called H3N2, according to CDC data. Of the 994 positive flu tests recorded the week of Dec. 27, 971 contained influenza A. Subtyping on a majority of those specimens identified that just over 91% of them were the H3N2 strain. No person-to-person transmission of the avian flu, or H5, strain had been recorded in the United States as of that week, according to the CDC.
This story originally appeared in WORLD. © 2026, reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.
