Flu has killed 22 more children, the most reported since the respiratory virus began slamming the country in the fall, according to a government report released on Friday. The total number of flu-related pediatric deaths now is at least 84 nationwide.

But other indicators from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest that a vicious influenza season may finally be starting to plateau.

The CDC’s latest weekly report shows that the percentage of doctor visits for fever, cough and other flu symptoms was the same during the week of Feb. 4-10 as the week before — about 1 in every 13 visits.

The figures are based on updated data showing the percentage of Americans seeking medical care for such symptoms to be just slightly lower than peak levels during the 2009-10 swine flu pandemic. The week ending last Saturday was the first one in which that indicator — a key early flag of flu activity — did not increase.

At the end of last week, the hospitalization rate for flu was almost 68 people per 100,000, higher than the 64.2 per 100,000 in the especially severe 2014-2015 season. The same flu strain predominant then, H3N2, is circulating now and is the most deadly of the flu strains.

The last several months have been particularly harsh because of H3N2, which is associated with more hospitalizations and deaths, especially among children, people older than 65 and those with certain chronic conditions.

It’s not clear whether this flu season, which started early and has remained intense, has hit its peak. Experts say that even after the worst is over, several more weeks of flu activity should be expected in coming weeks and even into spring.

“I think that this year, we’re going to have flu in February, well into March and poke a foot or two into April,” said William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University, which is part of the CDC’s flu surveillance network.

Based on current trends, the number of child deaths could exceed the 148 reported during the 2014-2015 season, when the vaccine’s poor match resulted in an overall effectiveness of 19 percent.

This season’s flu vaccine is almost twice as effective overall, at 36 percent, according to a midseason estimate released on Thursday.