December 22, 2025
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Seasonal respiratory illnesses, particularly the flu, are climbing in the United States. The CDC expects the trend to continue through the holidays.
Flu cases are rising across the country, and only expected to climb as families travel and gather for the holidays.
The timing of the uptick in seasonal influenza activity is similar to past seasons, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a report issued Friday, and only low levels of people have sought medical attention thus far. The CDC estimated there have been 4.6 million illnesses, 49,000 hospitalization and 1,900 deaths from flu for the 2025-26 season.
Flu season runs from the late fall through the spring. Its severity varies from year to year. Since 2010-11, estimated hospitalizations have ranged from 96,000 to 700,000. Estimated deaths have ranged from 6,300 to 51,000. Young children, older adults and people with certain medical conditions are at greater risk of severe illness.
Public health officials currently place levels of acute respiratory illness at low or very low in the vast majority of states, including Pennsylvania. But most of the Pennsylvania's neighbors are seeing greater spikes. New Jersey, Ohio and Maryland have all reached moderate levels of illness, per the CDC data, while New York is the only state in the U.S. with a high level as of Friday.
The Pennsylvania health department said influenza activity is "increasing rapidly" in its latest respiratory virus update, posted Dec. 13. State officials report 11,432 cases of laboratory-confirmed influenza for the season. Pennsylvania is also seeing an uptick in COVID-19 and RSV cases. The health department said there have been 2,300 confirmed RSV cases.
Though it did not provide equivalent data on COVID-19 cases, federal wastewater data suggests Pennsylvania has reached "moderate" levels of COVID-19 viral activity.
New Jersey health officials similarly have observed rising rates of RSV, COVID-19 and influenza, with the latter showing the "sharpest increase." The state's health department has confirmed 6,904 flu cases for the 2025-2026 season as of Dec. 13, along with 2,179 RSV cases and 1,702 COVID cases.
The CDC is encouraging everyone over the age of 6 months who has not yet received a flu shot to get vaccinated. About 130 million doses of the vaccine have been distributed across the U.S. this season, the CDC said.
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