Percent of Tests Positive for Viral Respiratory Pathogens

Percent of tests positive for a pathogen is one of the surveillance metrics used to monitor respiratory pathogen transmission over time. The percent of tests positive is calculated by dividing the number of positive tests by the total number of tests administered, then multiplying by 100 [(# of positive tests/total tests) x 100]. These data include percent of tests positive values for the detection of severe acute respiratory virus coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes COVID-19 and Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) reported to the National Respiratory and Enteric Virus Surveillance System (NREVSS), a sentinel network of laboratories located through the US, includes clinical, public health and commercial laboratories; additional information available at: https://www.cdc.gov/surveillance/nrevss/index.html. Influenza results include clinical laboratory test results from NREVSS and influenza collaborating laboratories; more details about influenza virologic surveillance are available here: https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/overview.html. Data represent calculations based on laboratory tests performed, not individual people tested. RSV and COVID-19 are limited to nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs), also listed as polymerase chain reaction tests (PCR). Participating laboratories report weekly to CDC the total number of SARS-CoV-2 and RSV tests performed that week and the number of those tests that were positive. All data are provisional and subject to change.