NSSP Emergency Department Visits for COVID-19, Flu, and RSV by Demographic Category

Weekly syndromic surveillance data on emergency department visits for COVID-19, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in the United States. The dataset is produced by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services via the National Syndromic Surveillance Program and is updated weekly on Fridays. It includes breakdowns by demographic categories.

Use Cases

• Track weekly trends in respiratory virus emergency department visits based on syndromic surveillance data.
• Analyze disparities in healthcare-seeking behavior for respiratory illnesses based on demographic breakdowns.
• Model the co-circulation and relative burden of COVID-19, influenza, and RSV based on combined and individual case data.
• Validate public health interventions by monitoring changes in emergency department visit patterns.

Strengths

• Data is updated weekly, providing near-real-time surveillance.
• Covers three major respiratory pathogens (COVID-19, flu, RSV) with combined and individual metrics.
• Includes demographic breakdowns, which can support equity-focused analysis.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic or reporting bias inherent to the syndromic surveillance network.

Provenance

Source

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, National Syndromic Surveillance Program (NSSP)

Collection Method

Syndromic surveillance from participating emergency departments.

Time Range

Weekly data; last updated 2026-03 21.

Freshness

Updated weekly on Fridays.

Geography

United States (likely national coverage from participating facilities).