Early estimates for the burden of the 2022-2023 flu season. This year's flu season started roughly 6 weeks early in September. We are on track for a slightly above average flu season. It was a nice two years of limited flu activity, but flu came roaring back.
The CDC estimates the burden of flu rather than relying on laboratory-confirmed hospitalizations because flu isn't a reportable disease and not all influenza cases are tested. The burden is estimated first by adjusting laboratory-confirmed hospitalizations for underdetection, then calculating the number of illnesses and deaths according to historical ratios.
Note the 2020/2021 flu season was so non-existent that they were unable to estimate the flu burden