Severe Viral Respiratory Illness

About

Provides an update on how respiratory viruses are contributing to serious health outcomes, like hospitalizations and deaths.

Summary

Trends in Hospitalization Rates

Beginning November 1, 2024, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is requiring hospitals to report information regarding COVID-19, influenza, and RSV hospitalizations, and hospital bed capacity occupancy data to CDC's National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN). This website site will display data collected by both NHSN as well as RESP-NET for the remainder of the 2024-2025 respiratory virus season as the CMS requirements for NHSN reporting were not effective until November 1, 2024.

Hospitalization Rates Reported by Hospitals

Weekly hospitalization rates of respiratory virus-associated hospitalizations per 100,000 population from CDC's National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN). Preliminary data are shaded in gray. Refer to data notes for more details.

Hospitalization Rates from a Network of Hospitals

Weekly hospitalization rates of respiratory virus-associated hospitalizations per 100,000 population from RESP-NET. Preliminary data are shaded in gray. Refer to data notes for more details.

Trends in Viral Respiratory Deaths in the United States

Weekly percent of total deaths associated with COVID-19, influenza, and RSV. Preliminary data are shaded in gray. Refer to data notes for more details.

Data Notes

  • Source: National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN)
  • Data source description: As of November 1, 2024, Hospital Respiratory Data (HRD; formerly Respiratory Pathogen, Hospital Capacity, and Supply data or 'COVID-19 hospital data') are required to be reported to HHS through CDC's National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) based on updated requirements from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). NHSN monitors national and local trends in healthcare system stress and capacity for all acute care and critical access hospitals in the United States. Data reported by hospitals to NHSN represent aggregated counts and include metrics capturing information specific to hospital capacity, occupancy, hospitalizations, and admissions. Find more information about reporting to NHSN: https://www.cdc.gov/nhsn/psc/hospital-respiratory-reporting.html.
  • Data quality and timeliness: While CDC reviews reported data for completeness and errors and corrects those found, some reporting errors might still exist within the data. CDC and partners work with reporters to correct any errors and update the data in subsequent weeks. Data for the most recent two weeks may be affected by potential reporting delays; caution should be taken when interpreting these data.
  • Metrics and inclusion criteria: Many hospital subtypes, including acute care and critical access hospitals, are included in the rate calculations displayed on this page. Psychiatric, rehabilitation, and religious non-medical hospital types are excluded from calculations. Hospitals that reported complete admissions data to NHSN during a given week are included in the rate calculations and the visualization.
  • Respiratory virus-associated hospitalization rates are calculated as the total number of new hospital admissions reported to NHSN for a given reporting week (Sunday – Saturday) divided by the total population (per 100,000) as per the U.S. Census vintage 2023 population estimates.
  • Percent of hospitals reporting is calculated based on the number of active hospitals reporting complete data to NHSN for a given reporting week. Open circles on the display indicate if reporting levels were below <80% of hospitals reporting for a given jurisdiction and reporting week. Lower levels of reporting were expected in November 2024 as the new reporting requirement went into effect.
  • The NHSN-based hospital bed occupancy from January 2022 to May 2024 was archived on May 10, 2024; it can be found at Archived: Hospital Occupancy (cdc.gov).

  • Source: Respiratory Virus Hospitalization Surveillance Network (RESP-NET).
  • Additional information available at: https://www.cdc.gov/surveillance/resp-net/dashboard.html.
  • Data are collected through a network of acute care hospitals in select counties or county equivalents in 13 states for COVID-19 surveillance, 14 states for influenza surveillance, and 13 states for RSV surveillance; data are provided for the overall combined network and for each state with contributing hospitals.
  • Data are preliminary and subject to change as more data become available. In particular, case counts and rates for recent hospital admissions are subject to lag. Data for the last two weeks may be affected by potential reporting delays; caution should be taken when interpreting these data.
  • Incidence rates of respiratory virus-associated hospitalizations (per 100,000) are calculated using the U.S. Census vintage 2022 unbridged-race postcensal population estimates for the counties or county equivalents included in the surveillance area.
  • These rates are likely to be underestimated as some RESP-NET-associated hospitalizations might be missed because of undertesting, differing provider or facility testing practices, and diagnostic test sensitivity. Rates presented do not adjust for testing practices which may differ by pathogen, age, race and ethnicity, and other demographic criteria.
  • Surveillance for influenza-associated hospitalizations is typically conducted between October 1 and April 30 but will extend beyond April 30 for the 2023–2024 season for situational awareness during the ongoing outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A(H5N1) virus among birds, poultry, dairy cattle, and other animals in the United States (H5N1 Bird Flu: Current Situation Summary | Avian Influenza (Flu) (cdc.gov)); surveillance for COVID-19- and RSV-associated hospitalizations is conducted year-round.

  • Source: Provisional Deaths from the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) National Vital Statistics System (NVSS). Accessed from https://wonder.cdc.gov/mcd-icd10-provisional.html
  • Provisional data are non-final counts of deaths based on mortality data in NVSS. Data during recent periods are incomplete because of the lag in time between when a death occurs and when a death certificate is completed, submitted to NCHS, and processed for reporting. This delay can range from 1 week to 8 weeks or more, depending on the jurisdiction.
  • Definitions: Provisional data are non-final counts of deaths based on mortality data in NVSS. Cause-specific death counts are defined as those deaths with the designated ICD-10 codes listed as an underlying or contributing cause of death on the death certificate. The ICD-10 code definitions are as follows: COVID-19 (U07.1), Influenza (J09-J11), Respiratory Syncytial Virus (J12.1, J20.5, J21.0).
  • The death certificate data presented here provide a timely understanding of trends in deaths associated with each condition. However, it has been long recognized that only counting deaths where influenza was recorded on death certificates would underestimate influenza's overall impact on mortality. Influenza can lead to death from other causes, such as pneumonia and congestive heart failure; however, it may not be listed on the death certificate as a contributing cause for multiple reasons, including a lack of testing. Therefore, CDC has an established history of using models to estimate influenza-associated death totals. In the fall of 2024, CDC released COVID-19 and RSV estimated death totals.
  • Death data are displayed by date of death. Death data reported are based on the total number of deaths received and coded as of the date of analysis and may not represent all deaths that occurred in that period.
  • Percent of deaths is not presented for weeks where death counts are between 1-9 in accordance with NCHS data confidentiality standards.
  • Provisional death data represent deaths among U.S. residents and occurring in the 50 states, plus the District of Columbia. Assignment to a geographic area is based on the place of residence listed on the death certificate. Data from U.S. territories are not currently included in NVSS provisional reporting.
  • The percentage of all reported deaths that are attributed as COVID-19/Influenza/Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is calculated as the number of COVID-19/Influenza/Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) deaths divided by the number of deaths from all causes multiplied by 100. The percentage of deaths is less affected by incomplete reporting in recent weeks because death certificate data from natural causes of death and all causes have similar timeliness.