CDC's First FluView of the Season: Test Positivity Rises to 5% as Activity Climbs From a Low Base
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's first FluView report of the 2026-27 flu season shows flu test positivity rose from 3.9% to 5% in the week ending October 10. Clinical laboratories reported 2,270 positive specimens. Emergency department visits with a flu diagnosis accounted for 0.8% of visits, and flu-like illness accounted for 2.1% of outpatient visits, still below the national baseline of 2.9%.
Hospitals reported 4,024 laboratory-confirmed flu admissions, a rate of 1.2 per 100,000 people, stable from the prior week. Adults 65 and older had the highest admission rate at 3.8 per 100,000, followed by children 4 and younger at 1.3. Influenza A(H1N1) accounted for 96.4% of the influenza A viruses subtyped by public health laboratories. The CDC said seasonal flu activity remains low, but positivity, outpatient and emergency visits, and lab-confirmed hospitalizations have all been rising since late August or early September, with activity highest on the West Coast.
The report also noted that eight H1N1 viruses carried mutations reducing inhibition by oseltamivir — 3.1% of the 259 H1 viruses tested since May 24 — while none showed reduced susceptibility to baloxavir, peramivir or zanamivir. (GSM, from CDC FluView data via Becker's Hospital Review)
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 免疫接种诊所（资料图） / An immunization clinic (file photo). Photo: Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.
