The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said flu activity in the United States had climbed to its highest point since the 2009 swine flu pandemic, with respiratory illness labeled very high nationwide and most states reporting high or very high influenza activity. The figures, reported in the supplied CBS News excerpt, point to a severe winter wave that is still spreading even as COVID-19 activity eases.
The headline measure cited in the report is close to 8% of outpatient respiratory illness visits being tied to influenza. The CDC surveillance network had not seen a higher share since late 2009, during the H1N1 pandemic. The article says that matters because seasonal flu ordinarily rises after the holidays, but this winter's resurgence has moved well beyond a routine bump and into levels that are unusual for recent years.
Laboratory testing reflects the same pattern. According to the excerpt, 31.6% of tests last week were positive for influenza, almost twice the 18.2% peak from the previous season. Emergency rooms and laboratory data both show elevated strain, and the CDC's forecasts suggest influenza is likely still growing in 15 states while flattening or starting to decline in most of the rest.
The report cites Kentucky as one place seeing especially heavy pediatric illness. Dr. Kris Bryant of Norton Children's Hospital described extraordinarily high numbers of positive cases in children and said the hospital had recorded 3,000 positive cases in a single week. The excerpt presents that as a warning sign that the surge is affecting younger patients and not only adults.
The CDC's vaccination data add another layer to the picture. The supplied report says flu vaccination rates in children are at their lowest level in six years and that fewer than half of Americans have been vaccinated this season. Bryant suggested vaccine hesitancy may be contributing to the severity of the wave, though the excerpt does not present a formal causal analysis.
The article also notes that the current outbreak is not being linked to a new animal-origin strain. Tests around the country indicate the cases are still ordinary seasonal variants rather than a novel virus spilled over from farms. That distinction matters because the U.S. has also been dealing with a record outbreak of H5N1 bird flu in poultry and a new strain in dairy cows, but the excerpt says only a handful of human bird flu cases have been confirmed, and those were tied to direct animal contact.
For public health officials, the combination of very high respiratory illness, strong test positivity and widespread state-level transmission suggests a flu season that is already well beyond the level Americans have experienced in recent years. The supplied report does not give a projection for how long the wave will last, only that it has reached a peak not seen in the CDC's data since the 2009 pandemic era.
The article also points to the seasonal pattern after holiday travel, which often helps flu spread, but says this winter is behaving more aggressively than recent seasons. That combination of high outpatient illness, strong test positivity and pediatric strain is why the CDC snapshot matters beyond a single week of numbers. It describes a system under pressure across clinics, emergency rooms and school-age households, not just one regional flare-up.
