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2025–26 Cold & Flu Update

March 17, 2026 — Norovirus high and rising nationwide; RSV elevated but likely past peak; ILI/Flu declining; COVID remains low and trending down.

  • Norovirus is high or very high and rising in all regions. Expect to start decreasing in the spring.
  • RSV had a slow start but remains elevated and appears to have peaked. Expect elevated levels into April.
  • Influenza-like illness (ILI) is now low nationally. Flu remains elevated but has decrease for two consecutive weeks.
  • COVID remains low and decreasing nationally.
  • Frequent cleaning and disinfection of high-touch surfaces can help to limit the spread of respiratory viruses and norovirus.
A graph of norovirus cases in the US from September 2026 to March 2026

Image source: CDC NREVSS

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About the Author

Profile image of Doe Kley, RN, MPH, CIC, LTC-CIP, T-CHEST
Infection Prevention Fellow, Clorox Healthcare
Doe Kley is the Infection Prevention Fellow within Clorox Healthcare’s Clinical and Scientific Affairs team and is passionate about identifying problems and finding solutions to the many challenges faced in infection prevention. She develops tools and solutions based on her nearly 20 years of clinical expertise.  Much of her expertise in acute care infection prevention comes from working in large healthcare systems including Intermountain Healthcare and Kaiser Permanente. Doe is a registered nurse and received her Master of Public Health from the University of Nevada, Reno, as well as a Bachelor of Microbiology from Weber State University. She taught an infection control course for the Ohio State University (OSU) from 2019 to 2022 and is also dual board certified in infection prevention and epidemiology in both acute and long-term care. Additionally, Doe is certified to train EVS through the Association for the Healthcare Environment (AHE) and is currently a member of AHE, the Association for Professionals in Infection Control & Epidemiology (APIC), the Association of Perioperative Registered Nurses (AORN) and the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA). Doe is active on several committees including the Test Committee for the Certification Board of Infection Control & Epidemiology (CBIC) and the Advisory Council for the Pearce Foundation Environmental Services Optimization Playbook (EvSOP). She also served on the Board of Directors for the California APIC Coordinating Council (CACC) in 2022.

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References

  1. Rivers, C. Force of Infection: Outbreak Outlook, 3/15/2026. [cited 2026 Mar 16]. Available with subscription
  2. CDC. Respiratory Illness Data Channel, Mar 13, 2026 [Internet]. [cited 2026 Mar 13]. Available from CDC
  3. CDC. FluView. Weekly US Influenza Surveillance Report: Key Updates, Jan 30, 2026 [Internet]. [cited 2026 Mar 13]. Available from CDC.
  4. CDC. Respiratory Virus Activity Levels, Mar 13, 2026 [Internet]. [cited 2026 Mar 13]. Available from CDC
  5. CDC. NREVSS Dashboard, Mar 13, 2026 [Internet]. [cited 2026 Mar 13]. Available from CDC