Seventeen states, Washington, D.C. and New York City are reporting high or very high respiratory disease activity amid a flu season that is hitting harder and earlier than usual, according to data released Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Diseases of the USA.   

  Flu activity continues to increase in the US – the number of flu illnesses, hospitalizations and deaths so far this season has nearly doubled in the past week.  The CDC now estimates there have been at least 1.6 million illnesses, 13,000 hospitalizations and 730 deaths from the flu, including two reported deaths among children so far this season.  About one in 11 flu tests were positive last week.   

  It has been more than a decade – since the H1N1 swine flu pandemic – since flu hospitalization rates have been this high at this point in the season.  The latest CDC update tracks data through October 29.   

  Flu activity is highest in the South, followed by the Mid-Atlantic and parts of the West Coast.  Data from Walgreens that tracks prescriptions for antiviral treatments — such as Tamiflu — suggests there are hotspots in Mississippi and Alabama, as well as the Gulf Coast region, including Houston and New Orleans.   

  RSV hospitalizations were also significantly higher than usual, according to another weekly update released by the CDC on Thursday.   

  RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, is a common respiratory infection that usually causes mild cold-like symptoms but can cause serious illness, especially in older adults and infants.   

  Cumulative RSV hospitalization rates have already reached levels not usually seen until December in the US.  They increase in all age groups, but especially in children.   

  About four in 1,000 babies under 6 months old have been hospitalized with RSV so far this season – just a month ago.  as are more than one in 1,000 one- to two-year-olds.   

  Across the US, nearly one in five PCR tests for RSV were positive for the week ending Oct. 29, nearly doubling over the course of the month.   

  Weekly case counts are less complete for more recent weeks, but more RSV cases have been detected by PCR testing each week in October 2022 than any other week in at least two years.  Weekly case counts for the week ending October 22 were more than double any other week in 2020 or 2021.   

  There are signs that RSV cases are slowing in the southern region of the US, but positivity rates and testing cases continue to rise in other regions, especially in the Midwest.   

  And pediatric hospitals remain more crowded than average with patients with RSV and other conditions.  According to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, more than three-quarters of pediatric hospital beds and pediatric ICU beds are currently being used nationwide, compared to an average of about two-thirds over the past two years. years.   

  As of Friday, seventeen states have fewer than one in five available beds.  Five of them are more than 90% full: Rhode Island, Arizona, Maine, Minnesota and Delaware, along with Washington, DC.