Authorities at the CDC are now calling this year’s flu season “moderately severe,” with an estimated 11 million illnesses in the U.S. so far.

Seasonal influenza activity remained elevated and rose in the final week of December, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data showed on Monday, as the agency for the first time classified the 2025-26 season as "moderately severe.

The Trump administration is widely recommending fewer childhood immunizations, including for influenza, rotavirus and hepatitis A.

In a major departure from past practice, the CDC is scaling back the number of recommended vaccines for children. The new schedule recommends that flu and COVID vaccines only be given after consulting with a healthcare provider and narrows recommendations for hepatitis A and B,

Influenza infections surged over the holidays, with the CDC estimating at least 11 million illnesses, 120,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths so far this season.

Flu activity is continuing to climb across the U.S. as hospitalizations rise, updated data from the CDC shows.

There have been an estimated 81,000 flu-related hospitalizations in the 2025-2026 flu season, according to the CDC

The state went to weekly reports on June 4, 2021, and biweekly in March 27, 2022, then back to weekly after a court case. The CDC does list deaths, but they are from the National Vital Statistics System, with the latest Florida figure at 86,697 as of Dec. 6. Nationally, there are 1,236,181 deaths.