Flu activity continues to climb across the US with at least 11 million cases: CDC
An Influenza Vaccine is prepared for a patient on September 12, 2025, in Coral Gables, Florida. Joe Raedle/Getty Images
(ATLANTA) — Flu activity is continuing to climb across the U.S. as hospitalizations rise, according to newly released data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC estimates there have been 120,000 hospitalizations so far this season, a 38.8% increase from the prior week.
Additionally, the CDC says there have been at least 11 million illnesses and 5,000 deaths due to flu so far this season.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, US, on Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. Megan Varner/Bloomberg via Getty Images
(ATLANTA) — Flu activity continues to remain elevated across the U.S., according to newly released data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC estimates there have been at least 18 million illnesses, 230,000 hospitalizations and 9,300 deaths from flu so far this season.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Pink ribbon flag in support of breast cancer awareness. Brent Lewis/The Denver Post via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — When it comes to early detection, mammograms remain the only screening test proven to reduce deaths from breast cancer in average-risk women, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
However, only about 75% of eligible U.S. women schedule regular screenings, according to a JAMA study published earlier this month.
Experts believe that misunderstandings about who needs screenings and how often may be part of the reason some women skip mammograms. Here are eight evidence-based facts about breast cancer screening to help set the record straight.
CLAIM: Only women with a family history need screening
Although some women with family history of breast cancer may need earlier or more frequent screenings, all women need regular screenings, doctors said.
“Only about five to 10% of breast cancers are hereditary,” Dr. Aparajita Spencer, a breast surgical oncologist at CHI Memorial in Chattanooga, Tennessee, told ABC News. “Most women with breast cancer do not have a family history.”
CLAIM: A lump is the earliest sign of breast cancer
Although a lump is one of the most common symptoms of breast cancer, it is not the only sign and can be missed when performing self-examination.
“The whole point of the mammogram is to pick up the earliest signs of a breast cancer, which are usually calcifications, not really a mass,” Dr. Preeti Subhedar, breast surgery chief at Hackensack Hospital in New Jersey, told ABC News.
“When people come in with a mammographically or image-detected breast cancer, usually it’s fairly small and outcomes are really good,” she added.
CLAIM: Breast size affects your cancer risk
Subhedar said that breast size has nothing to do with risk.
“An average-risk woman has a 12% lifetime risk of developing breast cancer,” she said.
Spencer added that breast size and breast density are often confused, but they’re not the same. A mammogram will read dense breasts as having a higher proportion of glandular and fibrous tissue compared to fatty tissue. Mammary glands typically produce milk while fibrous tissue forms the breast.
This can slightly raise cancer risk and make tumors harder to catch, which is why the U.S. Food and Drug Administration finalized a rule in 2024 requiring providers to inform women if their breast tissue is dense and may require additional follow-up screenings.
CLAIM: Younger women don’t need mammograms
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network recommends annual screening mammograms starting at age 40 for average-risk women.
For women with a strong family history of breast cancer or a known genetic mutation, the American Cancer Society recommends beginning annual screenings with both a mammogram and a breast MRI at age 30, or even earlier if a close relative was diagnosed at a young age.
CLAIM: A negative mammogram means you don’t have breast cancer
Experts said a mammogram does not mean a patient doesn’t have breast cancer but rather that breast cancer wasn’t found on that specific mammogram.
“Mammograms occasionally miss early-stage cancers,” noted Spencer. “There is always a chance that you have something that pops up between screenings. We can’t say 100%, which is why it’s really important to get those yearly screenings.”
CLAIM: Mammograms can cause cancer because of radiation
The benefit of early detection far outweighs the tiny risk from the small amount of radiation, experts said.
The total lifetime risk for radiation-induced breast cancer is still very low at one in 5,000 — compared to about one in every eight women who will develop breast cancer in their lifetime, and roughly one in 43 women who will die from it.
CLAIM: There are safe and effective alternatives to mammograms
“There’s no universal replacement for screening mammograms. That is why that is the gold standard,” Spencer said.
Mammograms are safe — even during pregnancy when needed, she added. Other diagnostic tools including, an MRI and an ultrasound, may be used to provide additional information, but they do not replace the mammogram.
CLAIM: A breast biopsy spreads breast cancer
Medical experts agree that breast biopsies are safe, and the benefit of getting an accurate diagnosis far outweighs the minimal risks.
“It is extremely, extremely important that we get a tissue biopsy when someone comes in with an abnormal mammogram because there’s a lot of biological information that we learn about a tumor from that biopsy,” Spencer said.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women after skin cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death, according to the American Cancer Society.
In 2024, more than 300,000 women were diagnosed with breast cancer, and about 40,000 died from the disease. Today, more than 3 million breast cancer survivors live in the U.S. — a powerful reminder of the importance of early detection, doctors said.
Allyson Heng, MD, is resident physician in neurology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and a member of the ABC News Medical Unit.
(SPARTANBURG COUNTY, S.C.) — At least 99 new measles cases are being reported in South Carolina amid the state’s outbreak.
This brings the total number of cases in the state to 310. There are currently 200 people in quarantine, according to health officials.
The outbreak has been ongoing as state health officials continue to push for vaccinations. The majority of cases are located around Spartanburg County.
“The number of those in quarantine does not reflect the number actually exposed,” Dr. Linda Bell, the state epidemiologist, said in a press releases. “An increasing number of public exposure sites are being identified with likely hundreds more people exposed who are not aware they should be in quarantine if they are not immune to measles. Previous measles transmission studies have shown that one measles case can result in up to 20 new infections among unvaccinated contacts.”
South Carolina’s department of public health said it sent a statewide health alert on Jan. 7, “advising health care providers and facilities of the importance of heightened awareness for measles and recommended measures for the use of masks and rapid isolation of suspect measles cases to protect people in health care settings from exposures.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently recommends that people receive two doses of the MMR vaccine, the first at ages 12 to 15 months and the second between 4 and 6 years old. One dose is 93% effective, and two doses are 97% effective against measles, the CDC says.
However, CDC data shows vaccination rates have been lagging in recent years. During the 2024-2025 school year, 92.5% of kindergartners received the MMR vaccine, according to data. This is lower than the 92.7% seen the previous school year and the 95.2% seen in the 2019-2020 school year, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
