Overall, hospitalizations of all three major respiratory viruses we track (COVID-19, influenza, and RSV) have decreased markedly from their late-December/early-January peaks this season. (Explore the dataon the Inside Medicine dashboard.)
Now, you may recall that I recently wrote that, anecdotally, I felt that I was seeing an increase in flu-associated hospitalizations in the Northeast.
Updated data now show that my observations were in line with regional trends. The closest state to me that the CDC tracks is Connecticut. Things bottomed out in Connecticut in late January, but had increased by 77% by late February, which is when I posted my frontline observations about a possible late uptick in flu.
While things have improved on the flu front overall nationwide, there are indeed a few regions where influenza has been on the rise as of late, with late season peaks.
So, for this week’s Data Snapshot, here are flu-related hospitalizations (per 100,000 people) for the 14 states that the CDC reports on each week, from the apparent peak of the season for most regions this year (late December/early January) through the end of February.