The U.S. might finally have a sliver of good news this flu season.
Numbers of cases, hospitalizations and deaths are all trending downward, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention between January 10-17.
Deaths dropped 1.8 percent over the previous week and the number of visits to a health care provider fell by 4.4 percent. Only the week before, deaths were rising.
It is the third consecutive week that flu activity has decreased overall. But doctors have warned that it’s too soon for Americans to drop their guard.
“In past years, there have been secondary surges of cases caused by a different seasonal influenza,” David Cennimo, an infectious disease expert at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, said in a statement.
“So, when looking at the totality of an influenza season, even as we get over this peak, there could be many more cases ahead.”
A historic year
The flu season typically runs from October until May. Last year was the worst flu season in 15 years and the deadliest for children in more than 20 years, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
This year has also made history with outpatient visits for flu-like illness at their highest levels in nearly 30 years, fueled by the spread of a highly infectious variant.
There have been at least 19 million illnesses, 250,000 hospitalizations and 10,000 deaths from flu so far this season. Of the deaths, 44 have been children, the majority of whom have not been fully vaccinated against the flu.
The number of pediatric deaths is higher than at this point last year, raising concerns that the worst could be yet to come.
There were 31 pediatric deaths from flu between October 2024 and January 2025. The total for the 2024-2025 season would ultimately climb to 289 pediatric deaths.
‘Not out of the woods yet’
It remains too early to tell if this flu season has peaked, doctors say.
Flu activity levels are shown to remain “very high” in Idaho, New Mexico, Missouri, Michigan, South Carolina, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
In frigid New York City, which saw its worst season for flu in 10 years, cases have declined, but officials warned the virus was still “circulating at very high levels.”
“We are not out of the woods yet,” Dr. Michelle Morse, the acting health commissioner for New York City, said earlier this month. “This is not the time for New Yorkers to relax their efforts to protect themselves.”
In Cleveland, Ohio, there has been a welcome drop in hospitalizations, but the number of flu-related hospitalizations has still nearly doubled last year, according to WKYC.
“That really points toward February being one of the more severe flu Februaries for us,” Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff said.
On the West Coast, flu activity often peaks later and stays longer.
“We’re actually seeing flu activity show up a little later than we expected this year,” Joshua Higgins, a physician assistant with Express Care at UC San Diego Health, said. “Patients have been coming in with upper respiratory symptoms, often lasting days or weeks.”
The one certain thing is that it’s not too late to get vaccinated, he said. The flu vaccine provides protection from severe illness, though it takes two weeks for immunity to kick in.
More than 130 million people have received flu shots, including 44.2 percent of children. However, that’s 0.2 percent fewer kids than were vaccinated at this time in 2025.
“One of the biggest misconceptions is that it’s too late to get a flu shot,” Higgins says. “There’s still benefit – and it can make symptoms less severe if you do get sick.”
